Design study of AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs

The frequency performance of AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) having different layouts, doping profiles, and layer thicknesses was assessed using the BIPOLE computer program. The optimized design of HBTs was studied, and the high current performances of HBTs and polysilicon emitter transistors were compared. It is shown that no current crowding effect occurs at current densities less than 1×10⁵ A/cm² for the HBT with emitter stripe width S_E<3 μm, and the HBT current-handling capability determined by the peak current-gain cutoff frequency is more than twice as large as that of the polysilicon emitter transistor. An optimized maximum oscillation frequency formula has been obtained for a typical process n-p-n AlGaAs/GaAs HBT having base doping of 1×10 ¹⁹ cm^-3     

Breakdown behavior of GaAs/AlGaAs HBTs

Avalanche breakdown behavior at the collector junction of the GaAs/AlGaAs HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor) has been studied. Junction breakdown characteristics displaying hard breakdown, soft breakdown, and negative resistance breakdown behavior were observed and are interpreted by analysis of localized microplasma effects, uniform microplasma-free behavior, and associated current gain measurements. Light emission from the collector-base junction of the GaAs/AlGaAs HBT was observed and used to investigate breakdown uniformity. Using a simple punchthrough breakdown model, the theoretical breakdown curves at different collector doping concentrations and thicknesses were computed and found to be in agreement with maximum breakdown voltages measured from devices displaying the most uniform junction breakdown. The serious current gain degradation of GaAs/AlGaAs HBTs at low current densities was analyzed in connection with the measurement of a large collector-emitter breakdown voltage. The unexpected functional relationship between the collector-emitter breakdown voltage and collector-base breakdown voltage is explained by the absence of a hole-feedback effect for devices not exhibiting transistor action     

AlGaAs/GaAs HBT的设计研究

利用BIPOLE计算机程序,评价了具有不同版图、不同掺杂分布和不同层厚的AlGaAs/GaAs HBT的频率性能,研究了HBT的最佳化设计,并比较了HBT和多晶硅发射极晶体管的大电流性能。研究表明,对发射极条宽S_E<3μm的HBT来说,在电流密度小于1×10~5A/cm~2时,并未发现电流集聚效应,由最高f_T确定的HBT电流处理容量要比多晶硅发射极晶体管的大两倍多。对基区掺杂为1×10~(19)cm~(-3)的典型工艺n-p-n型AlGaAs/GaAs HBT,已获得了一个最佳化的最高振荡频率f_(mos(?))的方程式:f_(mosc)=337(W_(Bop)/S_E)~(1/2)GHz,式中,W_(Bop)是最佳基区宽度,S_E是发射极条宽,二者都以微米为单位。     

Submicron-square emitter AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs with AlGaAshetero-guardring

Successful operation of submicron-square emitter AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs is demonstrated for the first time by using a fully mesa-structure-type emitter-base junction-area definition method with an AlGaAs hetero-guardring. The hetero-guardring reduces surface recombination current at the emitter-mesa edge to 1.4 μA/μm. This is 1/10 of that for devices without the guardring. Here, dc gains of 20, 26, and 40 are achieved for 0.5 μm×0.5 μm, 0.7 μm×0.7 μm, and 0.9 μm×0.9 μm emitter HBTs, respectively. An f_T of 40 GHz, and an f_max of 30 GHz are obtained for 0.9 μm×0.9 μm at a J_C of 1.0×10⁵ A/cm²     

Metamorphic Heterostructure InP/GaAsSb/InP HBTs on GaAs Substrates by MOCVD

Good-quality metamorphic InP buffer layers have been successfully grown on GaAs substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. Characterization by atomic force microscope, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution X-ray diffraction, and Hall measurements indicated that the layers are of high crystalline quality, good mobility, and excellent surface morphology. On this buffer, we demonstrated the first metamorphic InP/GaAsSb/InP double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) with good material quality and device performance. Metamorphic DHBTs showed direct-current and radio-frequency characteristics that are comparable to those grown on lattice-matched InP substrates.     

Mobility of modulation doped AlGaAs/low-temperature MBE-grown GaAs heterostructures

A study of the mobility of a novel modulation doped heterostructure in which the channel region is made of low-temperature molecular beam epitaxially grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) and all other layers are grown at normal temperatures is presented for the first time. The resistivity of the as-grown samples(in- situ annealed) is very high, as is that of single layers of bulk LT-GaAs. However, in the presence of light, the resistivity of the LT-GaAs modulation-doped field effect transistor (MODFET) is significantly lower, facilitating reliable Hall measurements. We speculate that the observed decrease in resistivity of the LT-GaAs MODFET is due to the formation of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the heterointerface under illumination. A number of samples grown under different growth conditions were investigated. Mobilities for these samples were found to be in the range of 250 to 750 cm²Vs at 300K and ∼3000 to 5500 cm²Vs at 77K. A first-order computer simulation was implemented to calculate the mobility of the 2DEG using the relaxation-time approximation to solve the Boltzmann equation, taking into account different scattering mechanisms. Scattering by the arsenic clusters and by ionized impurities in the LT-GaAs MODFET channel are found to be the two dominant mechanisms limiting the mobility of the LT-GaAs MODFET samples. Experimental values are in good agreement with theoretical results.     

Millimetre wave performance of carbon-doped-base AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs

AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs with f/sub T/ of 52 GHz and f/sub max/ of 85 GHz have been obtained using a heavily-carbon-doped base layer. The HBT epitaxial layers were prepared by low-pressure MOVPE using carbon tetrachloride as the carbon source. To the author's knowledge, this work reports the first carbon-doped AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs with f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ greater than 50 GHz.<>     

Low-loss GaAs/AlGaAs optical waveguides on InP substrates

It is shown that the waveguide losses in lattice-mismatched GaAs-on-InP structures can be significantly reduced using an appropriate buffer layer. An AlGaAs buffer layer sequence was used for this purpose. A thin (400 nm) layer of Al_0.7Ga_0.3As, with an index below that of InP, was placed adjacent to the GaAs guiding layer both to maximize optical confinement in the guide and to increase the allowable guide dimensions for a single planar waveguide mode. Additional separation between guide and mismatched interface was achieved by inserting an Al_0.5Ga_0.5As layer with an index nearly equal to that of InP between the low-index buffer and InP. The final waveguide structure also included a thin (<40 nm) GaAs layer which was used to initiate growth and did not affect waveguide performance. Low losses (typically 3 dB/cm, with best results below 1 dB/cm) were achieved at a 1.52-μm wavelength for samples grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition     

Reliability characteristics of ohmic contacts for AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs

The thermal stability of ohmic contacts for AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs is presented. Ti/Pt/Au, Ti/Pt/Au and Cr/Pt/Au, and AuGe/Ni/Ti/Pt/Au were investigated for emitter, base, and collector contacts, respectively. As a result of 200 degrees C storage tests, it was found that these contacts did not limit the reliability of AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs.<>     

28 Gbit/s selector IC using AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs

An ultra-high-speed selector IC has been developed for future optical transmission systems. The IC was fabricated with AlGaAs/GaAs HBT technology, for which the f/sub T/ is about 70 GHz. It operates at 28 Gbit/s with an output voltage swing of 1 V/sub p-p/. This is the fastest operating speed ever reported for a selector IC using any technology.<>     

Application of AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs for wideband direct-coupled amplifiers

An AlGaAs/GaAs HBT direct-coupled amplifier has been designed and its characteristics described for the first time. The amplifier consists of two HBTs and three resistors without level-shift diodes. A superior amplifier performance of 11 dB gain with a 4 GHz bandwidth was obtained.     

Pulsed current stress of Berillium doped AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs

The major concern for reliability of Berillium doped HBTs is the diffusion of the base dopant towards the emitter. This degradation can be enhanced by the device self-heating and/or by REID mechanism. In order to separate the thermal and REID components to the Berillium outdiffusion we performed a pulsed current stress on AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs. In this paper we report on results obtained with different values of the duty cycles for this current.     

Degradation of AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs induced by hot carriers

In AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs, the instability of the surface states of the extrinsic base, which is revealed by mesa-etching and passivated by Si₃N₄, affects reliability. In this study the reverse constant current stress in an avalanche regime is applied across the emitter–base junction in order to test the stability of the heterojunction and the surface state of the extrinsic base. It has been identified that the surface of the extrinsic base is vulnerable to hot carriers. A new degradation mechanism is suggested and verified by numerical simulation. In addition, a way to improve the reliability is proposed based on the experimental results.     

AlGaAs/GaAs P-n-p HBTs with high maximum frequency of oscillation

An investigation of P-n-p HBTs (heterojunction bipolar transistors) with an f_max of 39 GHz and an f_t of 19 GHz is presented. Power-added efficiency of 31% was obtained in an amplifier at 10 GHz. The design of the high-speed AlGaAs/GaAs P-n-p HBTs takes account of the large degeneracy in the heavily n-type GaAs base. This doping-dependent degeneracy can induce gradients in the valence-band edge to improve the base transit time. High injection efficiency can be maintained in spite of the large degeneracy by increasing the aluminum content of the emitter. HBTs with emitter aluminum contents of 40% and 75% are described     

20-GHz 5-dB-gain analog multipliers with AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs

From-DC-to-above-20-GHz monolithic Gilbert cell analog multipliers have been developed using AlGaAs/GaAs HBT technology. As a double balanced active mixer, it exhibits very high conversion gain of above +5 dB with extremely high LO-IF isolation of 33 dB for RF/LO inputs up to 20 GHz. It exhibits conversion gain of +9 dB for 5 GHz RF/LO inputs. As a double balanced upconverter, it exhibits positive conversion gain with high LO-RF isolation of 23 dB for RF output up to 8.5 GHz. As a detection mixer in coherent optical heterodyne receivers, it can operate for RF/LO inputs up to 15 GHz under a less than -7.5 dBm LO input condition     

Integrated npn/pnp GaAs/AlGaAs HBTs grown by selective MBE

npn and pnp GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors have been successfully fabricated on the same GaAs substrate using selective molecular beam epitaxy and a new merged HBT processing technology. The DC and microwave characteristics of the transistors are equivalent to those of similar HBTs grown by conventional MBE on separate GaAs substrates.<>     

22 GHz 1/4 frequency divider using AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs

A divide-by-four frequency divider using AIGaAs/GaAs HBTs with GalnAs/GaAs emitter cap layers was designed and fabricated. A maximum toggle frequency of 22.15 GHz was obtained at a power supply voltage of 9 V and a total power dissipation of 712 mW. The minimum input signal power was under 0dBm and the free-running frequency was as high as 20 GHz.     

GaAs/AlGaAs power heterobipolar transistor fabricated on silicon substrate

A GaAs/AlGaAs power HBT was fabricated on a silicon substrate, where the thermal conductance is reduced by a factor of 2.8 compared with that on bulk GaAs. Due to the newly developed monolithically grown ballast resistor in the emitter region, the experimentally fabricated device has shown the highest collector current of over 2.5 A for a device with an active device area of 0.14 mm/sup 2/.<>     

Physical scaling rules for AlGaAs/GaAs power HBTs based on asmall-signal equivalent circuit

Physical scaling rules for AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) containing 2-16 emitter fingers are demonstrated, the parameter extraction is based on a small signal equivalent circuit. The scaling parameters compare favorably with the measured data from the process control monitor