Turn-on voltage investigation of GaAs-based bipolar transistors with Ga/sub 1-x/In/sub x/As/sub 1-y/N/sub y/ base layers

The fundamental lower limit on the turn on voltage of GaAs-based bipolar transistors is first established, then reduced with the use of a novel low energy-gap base material, Ga/sub 1-x/In/sub x/As/sub 1-y/N/sub y/. InGaP/GaInAsN DHBTs (x/spl sim/3y/spl sim/0.01) with high p-type doping levels (/spl sim/3/spl times/10/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/) and dc current gain (/spl beta//sub max//spl sim/68 at 234 /spl Omega///spl square/) are demonstrated. A reduction in the turn-on voltage over a wide range of practical base sheet resistance values (100 to 400 /spl Omega///spl square/) is established relative to both GaAs BJTs and conventional InGaP/GaAs HBTs with optimized base-emitter interfaces-over 25 mV in heavily doped, high dc current gain samples. The potential to engineer turn-on voltages comparable to Si- or InP-based bipolar devices on a GaAs platform is enabled by the use of lattice matched Ga/sub 1-x/In/sub x/As/sub 1-y/N/sub y/ alloys, which can simultaneously reduce the energy-gap and balance the lattice constant of the base layer when x/spl sim/3y.     

A novel InGaP/Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/GaAs CEHBT

A new and interesting InGaP/Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/GaAs composite-emitter heterojunction bipolar transistor (CEHBT) is fabricated and studied. Based on the insertion of a compositionally linear graded Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As layer, a near-continuous conduction band structure between the InGaP emitter and the GaAs base is developed. Simulation results reveal that a potential spike at the emitter/base heterointerface is completely eliminated. Experimental results show that the CEHBT exhibits good dc performances with dc current gain of 280 and greater than unity at collector current densities of J/sub C/=21kA/cm/sup 2/ and 2.70/spl times/10/sup -5/ A/cm/sup 2/, respectively. A small collector/emitter offset voltage /spl Delta/V/sub CE/ of 80 meV is also obtained. The studied CEHBT exhibits transistor action under an extremely low collector current density (2.7/spl times/10/sup -5/ A/cm/sup 2/) and useful current gains over nine decades of magnitude of collector current density. In microwave characteristics, the unity current gain cutoff frequency f/sub T/=43.2GHz and the maximum oscillation frequency f/sub max/=35.1GHz are achieved for a 3/spl times/20 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ device. Consequently, the studied device shows promise for low supply voltage and low-power circuit applications.     

High frequency performance of Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x//Si/sub 1-y/Ge/sub y//Si/sub 1-x/Ge/sub x/ HBTs

The results of a theoretical study of the performance of high speed SiGe HBTs is presented. The study includes a group of SiGe HBTs in which the Ge concentration in the base is 20% higher than that in the emitter and collector (i.e. y=x+0.2). It is shown that the composition dependences of f/sub T/ and the F/sub max/ are non-monotonic. As the Ge composition in the emitter and collector layers is increased, f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ first decrease, then remain constant and finally increase to attain their highest values.<>     

新结构InGaP/GaAs/InGaP DHBT生长及特性研究

设计并生长了一种新的InGaP/GaAs/InGaP DHBT结构材料,采用在基区和集电区之间插入n+-InGaP插入层结构,以解决InGaP/GaAs/InGaP DHBT集电结导带尖峰的电子阻挡效应问题。采用气态源分子束外延(GSMBE)技术,通过优化生长条件,获得了高质量外延材料,成功地生长出带有n+-InGaP插入层结构的GaAs基InGaP/GaAs/InGaP DHBT结构材料。采用常规的湿法腐蚀工艺,研制出发射极面积为100μm×100μm的新型结构InGaP/GaAs/InGaP DHBT器件。直流特性测试的结果表明,所设计的集电结带有n+-InGaP插入层的InGaP/GaAs/InGaP DHBT器件开启电压约为0.15V,反向击穿电压达到16V,与传统的单异质结InGaP/GaAs HBT相比,反向击穿电压提高了一倍,能够满足低损耗、较高功率器件与电路制作的要求。     

Significant operating voltage reduction on high-speed GaAs-based heterojunction bipolar transistors using a low band gap InGaAsN base layer

We report the fabrication of double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) with the use of a new quaternary InGaAsN material system that takes advantage of a low-energy band gap E/sub G/ in the base to reduce operating voltages in GaAs-based electronic devices. InGaP/In/sub 0.03/Ga/sub 0.97/As/sub 0.99/N/sub 0.01//GaAs DHBTs with improved band gap engineering at both heterojunctions exhibit a DC peak current gain over 16 with small active emitter area. The use of the lattice-matched In/sub 0.03/Ga/sub 0.97/As/sub 0.99/N/sub 0.01/ (E/sub G/=1.20 eV) base layer allows a significant reduction of the turn-on voltage by 250 mV over standard InGaP/GaAs HBTs, while attaining good high-frequency characteristics with cutoff frequency and maximum oscillation frequency as high as 40 GHz and 72 GHz, respectively. Despite inherent transport limitations at the present time, which penalize peak frequencies, this novel technology provides comparable RF performance to conventional devices with a GaAs control base layer but at much lower operating base-emitter bias conditions. This technical progress should benefit to the next generation of RF circuits using GaAs-based HBTs with lower power consumption and better handling of supply voltages in battery-operated wireless handsets.     

High C-doped base InGaP/GaAs HBTs with improved characteristics grown by MOCVD

The improvement in the emitter-base leakage current of HBTs has been investigated by the use of an InGaP emitter. InGaP/GaAs n-p-n HBT structures with high C-doped bases, grown by MOCVD, have been fabricated and these devices show Gummel plots with near ideal I-V characteristics (n/sub c/=1.00 and n/sub b/=1.09). Measured current gain remains relatively flat over five decades of collector current and its magnitude is greater than unity at collector current as low as 0.1 mu A. The characteristics of these HBTs were compared with fabricated AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs having similar device structure. The superior performance of the InGaP emitter HBT is demonstrated.<>     

Implementation of reduced turn-on voltage InGaP HBTs using graded GaInAsN base regions

InGaP/GaInAsN double heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with compositionally graded bases are presented which exhibit superior dc and radio frequency performance. Reducing the average base layer energy gap and optimizing the emitter-base (e-b) and base-collector (b-c) heterojunctions leads to a 100-mV reduction in the turn-on voltage compared to a baseline InGaP/GaAs process. Simultaneously grading the base layer energy band-gap results in over a 66% improvement in the dc current gain and up to a 35% increase in the unity gain cutoff frequency. DC current gains as high as 250 and cutoff frequencies of 70 GHz are demonstrated. In addition, the InGaP/GaInAsN DHBT structure significantly reduces the common emitter offset and knee voltages, as well as improves the dc current gain temperature stability relative to standard InGaP/GaAs HBTs.     

钝化边的制作及其对不同尺寸自对准InGaP/GaAs HBT性能的影响

采用全耗尽的In Ga P材料在基区Ga As表面形成钝化边(passivation ledge)的方法,研制出了带钝化边的自对准In Ga P/Ga As异质结双极晶体管(HBT) .通过对不同尺寸、有无钝化边器件性能的比较得出:钝化边对提高小尺寸器件的直流增益有明显效果,对器件的高频特性无明显影响.此外,钝化边的形成改善了所有实验器件的长期可靠性.     

Fabrication of InGaP/Al/sub 0.98/Ga/sub 0.02/As/GaAs oxide-confined collector-up heterojunction bipolar transistors

A partially oxidized Al/sub 0.98/Ga/sub 0.02/As layer was introduced between the emitter and base of collector-up heterojunction bipolar transistors (C-up HBTs) to suppress the leakage current and improve the current gain. Dependence of device current gain and leakage current on oxidation temperature was investigated. At lower oxidation temperature, the current gain can be effectively improved. Current gain and base sheet resistance were 79 and 203 ohm/sq. for the C-up HBT oxidized at 400/spl deg/C.     

高性能六边形发射极InGaP/GaAs异质结双极型晶体管

六边形发射极的自对准InGaP/GaAs异质结具有优异的直流和微波性能.采用发射极面积为2μm×10μm的异质结双极型晶体管,VCE偏移电压小于150mV,膝点电压为0.5V(IC=16mA),BVCEO大于9V,BVCBO大于14V,特征频率高达92GHz,最高振荡频率达到105GHz.这些优异的性能预示着InGaP/GaAs HBT在超高速数字电路和微波功率放大领域具有广阔的应用前景.     

Surface recombination current in InGaP/GaAs heterostructure-emitterbipolar transistors

The behavior of the surface recombination current was examined in InGaP/GaAs heterostructure-emitter bipolar transistors (HEBT's) with both exposed GaAs surface and InGaP passivated surface based on the emitter-size effect on current gain. The results indicate that the GaAs surface recombination current has a 1 kT-like dependence in the high current regime and a 2 kT-like dependence in the low current regime which is similar to published experimental results in AlGaAs/GaAs and InGaP/GaAs HBT's. The surface recombination current in devices with an InGaP passivation layer has an order of magnitude lower value in low current regime and more than two orders lower in high current regime than that in devices with exposed GaAs surface     

The influence of emitter material on silicon nitride passivation-induced degradation in InP-based HBTs

The influence of emitter material on silicon-nitride (SiN) passivation-induced degradation in InP-based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) has been studied. It has been found that, compared to InP, InAlAs has a much higher resistance to NH/sub 3/-related plasma-induced damage. InP-based HBTs using InAlAs as the emitter can effectively suppress the degradation of device performance caused by dielectric passivation giving least deterioration on the device characteristics compared to the previously reported results concerning the passivation quality using different passivation schemes. Short-term high temperature and high current electrical stress tests indicates that the SiN-passivated devices using InAlAs as the emitter may have better stability than those with InP emitter. Our results suggest that engineering of emitter layer structures could be an alternative approach to suppress passivation-induced degradation in InP-based HBTs.     

High-performance InGaP/GaAs HBTs with compositionally graded bases grown by solid-source MBE

N-p-n InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with compositionally graded In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As (Be doped) bases have been successfully grown by solid-source molecular beam Epitaxy (SSMBE) using a gallium phosphide (GaP) decomposition source. In this paper, the dc and RF characteristics of HBTs with different indium mole fractions in the graded In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As base (x:0 /spl rarr/ ;0.1 and x:0 /spl rarr/ 0.05) are measured to investigate optimum-grading profiles. The measured average current gains, /spl beta/s of a control sample, a 10% graded-base sample and a 5% graded-base sample, are 162, 397 and 362, respectively. To our knowledge, these current gains are the highest values ever reported in compositionally graded-base InGaP/GaAs HBTs with a base sheet resistance R/sub sh/ of /spl sim/200 /spl Omega//sq establishing a new benchmark for InGaP/GaAs HBTs. Furthermore, these compositionally graded-base HBTs show higher unity current/gain cutoff frequency, f/sub T/ and maximum oscillation frequency, f/sub max/. Compared to the control sample with the same base thickness, the base transit time /spl tau//sub B/ of the graded sample is reduced by /spl sim/15% to /spl sim/20% by the induced built-in potential, resulting in an increase of f/sub max/ from 16 to 18.5 GHz in a device with an emitter size of 10/spl times/10 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. Additionally, for the 5% graded-base sample, with a 5/spl times/5 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ emitter region, f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ are 16.3 and 33.8 GHz, respectively, under low-level collector current. These results demonstrate that InGaP/GaAs HBTs with In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As graded-base layers (x:0 /spl rarr/ 0.05) have the potential for high-speed analogue to digital converters.     

Surface-recombination-free InGaAs/InP HBTs and the base contact recombination

Surface-recombination-free InGaAs/InP HBTs with graded base have been demonstrated. The HBTs were passivated by ammonium sulfide. The current gain of the nonself-aligned HBTs was independent of the emitter periphery, indicating that the surface recombination was removed by the passivation. For the self-aligned HBTs, the current gain was still dependent on the emitter periphery after the passivation due to the base contact recombination. A surface leakage channel has been identified to result in a significant increase in the base contact recombination. The passivation has two effects: one is the surface recombination velocity reduction and the other is the surface leakage channel elimination.     

低偏置电压工作的自对准InGaP/GaAs功率异质结双极晶体管

介绍L波段、低偏置电压下工作的自对准InGaP/GaAs功率异质结双极晶体管的研制.在晶体管制作过程中采用了发射极-基极金属自对准、空气桥以及减薄等工艺改善其功率特性.功率测试结果显示:当器件工作在AB类,工作频率为2GHz,集电极偏置电压仅为3V时,尺寸为2×(3μm×15μm)×12的功率管获得了最大输出功率为23dBm,最大功率附加效率为45%,线性增益为10dB的良好性能.     

Effects of InGaP heteropassivation on reliability of GaAs HBTs

For the self-aligned AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs with the mesa-etched emitter, the instability of the surface states on the extrinsic base passivated by nitride is a major cause of the severe degradation of current gain. In this paper GaAs HBTs employing InGaP ledge emitter in order to passivate the surface of the extrinsic base and to reduce the surface states exhibited the considerable improvement of the current gain reliability with the activation energy of 1.97 eV and MTTF of 4.8×10⁸ h at 140°C. However, under the strong stress conditions InGaP/GaAs HBTs also produced the considerable degradation. The possible origins were investigated.     

High performance Al0.35Ga0.65As/GaAs HBT's

AlGaAs emitter heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) are demonstrated to have excellent dc and RF properties comparable to InGaP/GaAs HBTs by increasing the Al composition. Al_0.35Ga _0.65As/GaAs HBTs exhibit very high dc current gain at all bias levels, exceeding 140 at 25 A/cm² and reaching a maximum of 210 at 26 kA/cm² (L=1.4 μm×3 μm, R_sb=330 Ω/□). The temperature dependence of the peak dc current gain is also significantly improved by increasing the AlGaAs mole fraction of the emitter. Device analysis suggests that a larger emitter energy gap contributes to the improved device performance by both lowering space charge recombination and increasing the barrier to reverse hole injection     

Extrinsic base surface passivation in GaInP/GaAs heterojunctionbipolar transistors

The authors demonstrate excellent passivation of the extrinsic base surfaces in GaInP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) having small emitter areas. Passivated devices with an area as small as 4×20 μm² exhibit the highest reported current gain value of 2690 for GaInP/GaAs HBTs, while unpassivated 4×20-μm ² devices exhibit a current gain of only 500. Measured current gains as a function of collector current density are almost identical for devices with varying emitter widths of 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, and 100 μm. The current gains are also nearly identical for devices with varying passivation ledge widths of 1, 2, 3, and 6 μm. These results are contrasted with those of a previously published study reporting surface passivation for a GaInP/GaAs HBT with a large emitter area     

InGaAs-InP metamorphic DHBTs grown on GaAs with lattice-matched device performance and f/sub /spl tau//, f/sub max/>268 GHz

InP-In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As-InP double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) were grown on a GaAs substrate using a metamorphic buffer layer and then fabricated. The metamorphic buffer layer is InP - employed because of its high thermal conductivity to minimize device heating. An f/sub /spl tau// and f/sub max/ of 268 and 339 GHz were measured, respectively - both records for metamorphic DHBTs. A 70-nm SiO/sub 2/ dielectric sidewall was deposited on the emitter contact to permit a longer InP emitter wet etch for increased device yield and reduced base leakage current. The dc current gain /spl beta/ is /spl ap/35 and V/sub BR,CEO/=5.7 V. The collector leakage current I/sub cbo/ is 90 pA at V/sub cb/=0.3 V. These values of f/sub /spl tau//, f/sub max/, I/sub cbo/, and /spl beta/ are consistent with InP based DHBTs of the same layer structure grown on a lattice-matched InP substrate.