New submicron HBT IC technology demonstrates ultra-fast, low-powerintegrated circuits

A new submicron HBT-based integrated circuit technology has been developed to fabricate transistors as small as 0.2 μm² emitter geometry. Using this novel process approach we have been able to reduce our minimum device geometry by a factor of more than ten, and reduce the metallization pitch by a factor of two compared to our baseline process. At the same time, the device RF performance improved by a factor of two. Submicron heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) fabricated with this process exhibited f_T and f_max values greater than 165 and 140 GHz, respectively, and dc current gain of over 50. We have also demonstrated several circuits using submicron HBT's in this new IC technology. In particular, a latching comparator circuit which is a key building block of analog-to-digital converters, performed at 40 GHz. It exhibited three times the speed, one-third the dc power, and one-third the chip size of a similar circuit in our baseline process. A single-chip, PLL-based clock and data recovery circuit was fully functional at 4 GHz with a power supply voltage of 2.5 V. It consumed a total dc power of 50 mW, including input and output buffers     

High-speed InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors withburied SiO2 using WSi as the base electrode

High-speed InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) with a small emitter area are described. WSi is used as the base electrode to fabricate HBT's with a narrow base contact width and a buried SiO₂ structure. An HBT with an emitter area of 0.8×5 μm exhibited an f_T of 105 GHz and an f_max of 120 GHz. These high values are obtained due to the reduction of C_BC by using buried SiO₂ with a narrow base contact width, indicating the great potential of GaAs HBT's for high-speed and low-power circuit applications     

100-Gb/s multiplexing and demultiplexing IC operations in InP HEMT technology

This paper describes the 100-Gb/s multiplexing operation of a selector IC and demultiplexing operation of a D-type flip-flop (D-FF) using production-level 0.1-/spl mu/m-gate-length InP HEMT IC technology. To boost the operating speed of the selector IC, a selector core circuit directly drives an external 50-/spl Omega/ load, and is included in the output stage. In addition, a test chip containing the selector and a D-FF to confirm error-free operation of these circuits was designed. The fabricated selector IC exhibited clear eye openings at 100 Gb/s, and its error-free operation was confirmed by using the test chip.     

High-speed, low-noise InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors

We have demonstrated self-aligned InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) with excellent dc, microwave, and noise performance. A 3×10 μm² emitter finger device achieved a cutoff frequency of f_T=66 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation of f_max=109 GHz. A minimum noise figure of 1.12 dB and an associated gain of 11 dB were measured at 4 GHz. These results are the highest combined f_T+f_max and the lowest noise figure reported for an InGaP/GaAs HBT and are attributed to material quality and the use of self-aligned base contacts. These data clearly demonstrate the viability of InGaP/GaAs HBT's for high-speed, low-noise circuit applications     

A 15-GHz monolithic two-modulus prescaler

A high-speed two-modulus prescaler for divide-by-4/5 select was successfully realized adopting a new circuit design that reduces the effective fan-out of each D-flip-flop (D-FF) to one. To assure stable and high-speed operation, a low-voltage signal amplitude of 250 mV in the D-FF was adopted for both true-and-complementary and single-phase signals. Using a 70-GHz-f_T GaAs/AlGaAs HBT technology, the D-FF operated stably up to 18.6 Gb/s at designed bias voltages of 9 V with power dissipation of 0.55 W, and the prescaler operated up to 15.5 GHz with power dissipation of 1.5 W     

A 80-gbit/s D-type flip-flop circuit using InP HEMT technology

80-Gbit/s operation of a static D-type flip-flop (D-FF) circuit was achieved using InP-based HEMT technology, which has a cut-off frequency of 245 GHz and a transconductance of 1500 mS/mm. The circuit was designed with differential operation based on source-coupled FET logic (SCFL). To overcome deterioration of the 80-GHz clock signals in a single-ended to differential signal converter in the input buffer, a rat-race circuit was used as a converter. Measurements showed that the circuit achieved a gain of over 2 dB higher than a conventional converter using a differential pair circuit, and power consumption was reduced from 380 to 260 mW. The power supply voltage was -5.7 V, and total power consumption was 1.2 W. Since there is no commercially available 80-Gbit/s-pulse pattern generator, we developed a selector module to measure the D-FF. These measurements showed that the D-FF successfully operated at 80 Gbit/s, which is almost twice the speed reported to date.     

An 80-Gb/s optoelectronic delayed flip-flop IC using resonanttunneling diodes and uni-traveling-carrier photodiode

This paper describes an 80-Gb/s optoelectronic delayed flip-flop (D-FF) IC that uses resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) and a uni-traveling-carrier photodiode (UTC-PD). A circuit design that considers the AC currents passing through RTDs and UTC-PD is key to boosting circuit operation speed. A monolithically fabricated IC operated at 80 Gb/s with a low power dissipation of 7.68 mW. The operation speed of 80 Gb/s is the highest among all reported flip-flops. To clarify the maximum operation speed, we analyze the factors limiting circuit speed. Although the bandwidth of UTC-PD limits the maximum speed of operation to 80 Gb/s at present, the circuit has the potential to offer 100-Gb/s-class operation     

Heavily carbon-doped InGaP/GaAs HBT's with buried polycrystallineGaAs under the base electrode

This paper describes a new approach to fabricating InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) with a high cutoff frequency (f_T), high maximum oscillation frequency (f_max), and low external collector capacitance (C_bc). To attain a high f_T and f_max, a heavy carbon-doping (1.3×10²⁰ cm^-3) technique was used with a thin (30-nm-thick) GaAs base layer, while for low C_bc, low-temperature gas-source molecular-beam epitaxial growth on SiO₂ -patterned substrates was used to bury high-resistance polycrystalline GaAs under the base electrode. An f_T of 120 GHz and an f_max of 230 GHz were achieved for three parallel 0.7×8.5 μm HBT's with an undoped-collector structure, and an f _T of 170 GHz and an f_max of 160 GHz were obtained for a single 0.9×10 μm HBT with a ballistic-collection-transistor structure. Compared to HBT's without buried poly-GaAs, the maximum stable gain was improved by 1.2 dB in the 0.7×8.5 μm HBT and by 2.3 dB in the 0.9×10 μm HBT due to the reduction in C_bc. These results show the high potential of the proposed HBT's for high-speed digital and broadband-amplifier applications     

DC, RF, and noise characteristics of carbon-doped base InP/InGaAsheterojunction bipolar transistors

The first successful demonstration of high-performance InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors utilizing a highly carbon-doped base is reported. The detailed device characteristics including dc, RF, and noise performance have been investigated. For the first time base layers free of hydrogen passivation have been obtained using chemical beam epitaxy. The HBT's showed almost ideal dc characteristics; a gain independent of collector current, a near unity ideality factor, a very small offset-voltage, and a high breakdown voltage. Devices having two 1.5 μm×15 μm emitter fingers exhibited a maximum f_T of 115 GHz and f_max of 52 GHz. The device also exhibited a minimum noise figure of 3.6 dB and associated gain of 13.2 dB at a collector current level of 2 mA where a f_T of 29 GHz and f_max of 23 GHz were measured. The nearly ideal dc characteristics, excellent speed performance, and RF noise performance demonstrate the great potential of the carbon-doped base InP/InGaAs HBT's     

112-GHz collector-up Ge/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistorswith low turn-on voltage

This paper reports small-sized collector-up Ge/Ga/As heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) operating at low power and high frequency. A heavily B-doped Ge base-layer and a newly-developed self-aligned process reduce the base resistance and the parasitic elements. Intrinsic base resistance is 50 Ω/□; this is the lowest value reported for bipolar transistors. With limiting the active emitter area through B ion implantation, these collector-up HBT's with a collector size of 2×5 μm² exhibit a current gain of 60. They exhibit a maximum oscillation frequency f_max of 112 GHz with an associated current gain cutoff frequency f_T of 25 GHz. The large value of f_max, exceeding 100 GHz, is attributed to the extremely low base resistance caused by the heavily B-doped base-layer and the self-aligned process and to the low base-collector capacitance expected from the collector-up structure. The turn-on voltage of these HBT's is approximately 0.7 V smaller than that of AlGaAs/GaAs HBT's. These results show that these HBT's have excellent potential for low-power dissipation circuits     

DC to 40-GHz broad-band amplifiers using AlGaAs/GaAs HBT's

In this paper, we report two types of broad-band amplifiers implemented with AlGaAs/GaAs HBT's. One is a Darlington feedback amplifier and the other is a transimpedance amplifier. In the former circuit, a dc gain of 9.5 dB and a -3-dB bandwidth of 40 GHz were achieved. In the latter circuit, a transimpedance gain of 50 dBΩ and a -3-dB bandwidth of 27 GHz were achieved. To our best knowledge, they are the highest speed in each circuit configuration     

Speed optimization of edge-triggered CMOS circuits for gigahertzsingle-phase clocks

In digital circuits, a transistor connected to a particular circuit node does not always load that node by a gate capacitance proportional to C_oxWL if the transistors connected to its source are turned off. Such an observation, illustrated in this paper by a detailed analysis of the Yuan-Svensson D-flip-flop (D-FF) can be used to advantage both in sizing the transistors and in developing better configurations. A glitch-free, general purpose, and faster D-FF is presented here which has complementary outputs and runs at frequencies from tens of hertz to a couple of gigahertz for a 1-μm CMOS technology. Measured maximum clock frequency of a divide-by-16 circuit is 2.65 GHz at 5 V supply, whereas that of a dual-modulus frequency prescaler, dividing by 64/65, goes up to 1.6 GHz at 5 V     

High-speed InGaP/GaAs HBTs with a strained InxGa1-xAs base

A self-aligned InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor with a compositionally graded In_xGa_1-xAs base has been demonstrated with f_T=83 GHz and f_max=197 GHz. To our knowledge, these results are the highest reported for both parameters in InGaP/GaAs HBT's. The graded base, which improves electron transport through the base, results in a DC current gain and a cutoff frequency which are 100% and 20% higher, respectively, than that achieved by an identical device with a nongraded base. The high f_max results from a heavily doped base, self-aligned base contacts, and a self-aligned collector etch. These results demonstrate the applicability of InGaP/GaAs HBT's in high-speed microwave applications     

A 20 GHz 8 bit multiplexer IC implemented with 0.5 μm WNx/W-gate GaAs MESFET's

An ultrahigh-speed 8 bit multiplexer (MUX) has been developed for future-generation optical-fiber communication systems having a data rate of 20 Gb/s. This IC was fabricated using a 0.5 μm WN_x/W-gate GaAs MESFET process based on optical lithography, ion implantation, and furnace annealing for good reproducibility and high throughput. The WN_x/W bilayer gate has a low sheet resistance, improving the circuit high frequency performance. To attain 20 GHz operation, advanced circuit techniques for the source-coupled FET logic (SCFL) were introduced. A cross coupled source-follower (CCSF) was developed mainly for the highest speed buffers to enhance the bandwidth. The first-stage T-type flip-flop was designed with optimization techniques and operated up to 21.1 GHz     

Ultra-high-speed InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors

We report on the microwave performance of InP/In_0.53Ga _0.47As heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) utilizing a carbon-doped base grown by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE). The f_T and f_max of the HBT having two 1.5×10 μm² emitter fingers were 175 GHz and 70 GHz, respectively, at I_C=40 mA and V_CE=1.5 V. To our knowledge, the f _T of this device is the highest of any type of bipolar transistors yet reported. These results indicate the great potential of carbon-doped base InP/InGaAs HBT's for high-speed applications     

9.5 GHz GaInP/GaAs HBT divide-by-two frequency divider using super-dynamic D-type flip?flop technique

A frequency divider with super-dynamic D-type flip-flop is demonstrated in 2 mum GalnP/GaAs HBT (f_T = 40 GHz) technology. By biasing the HBT devices around tire peak transit-time frequency (f_T), the operating frequency of a D-FF with ECNFP (emitter-coupled negative feedback pairs) can be improved. At a supply voltage of 5 y a divide-by-two function of 9.5 GHz is achieved.     

Submicron transferred-substrate heterojunction bipolar transistors

We report submicron transferred-substrate AlInAs/GaInAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's). Devices with 0.4-μm emitter and 0.4-μm collector widths have 17.5 dB unilateral gain at 110 GHz. Extrapolating at -20 dB/decade, the power gain cutoff frequency f_max is 820 GHz. The high f_max, results from the scaling of HBT's junction widths, from elimination of collector series resistance through the use of a Schottky collector contact, and from partial screening of the collector-base capacitance by the collector space charge     

A novel self-oscillating HEMT-HBT cascode VCO-mixer using an activetunable inductor

Here we describe a unique Ka-band self-oscillating HEMT-HBT cascode mixer design which integrates an active tunable resonator circuit. The VCO-mixer MMIC integrates GaAs HEMT's and HBT's using selective molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technology. The HEMT-HBT cascode active mixer operates similarly to a dual-gate mixer. The HBT of the cascode is used to construct a VCO by presenting the base with an HEMT tunable active inductor. The VCO can be tuned from 28.5 to 29.3 GHz while providing ≈0 dBm of output power. Operated as an upconverter, the MMIC achieves 6-9 dB conversion loss over a 31-39 GHz output frequency band. Using these active approaches, both VCO and mixer functions were integrated into a compact 1.44×0.76 mm² chip area. The active RF integrated circuit (IC) techniques presented here have direct implications to future high complexity millimeter-wave monolithic integrated circuits (MIMICs) for ultrahigh-speed clock recovery and digital radio applications     

Microwave low-noise AlGaAs/InGaAs HBT's with p+-regrownbase contacts

This paper reports low-noise AlGaAs/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) with p⁺-regrown base contacts. To reduce the thermal and shot noises, we have reduced R_B by using a p ⁺-regrown base contact and have reduced τ_B by using a compositionally-graded thin base layer. As a result, F_min values of 0.9, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.6 dB were obtained at 2, 6, 12, and 18 GHz, respectively. These low-noise characteristics of our HBT's show high potential for low-noise application     

Impact of Al composition on RF noise figure of AlGaAs/GaAsheterojunction bipolar transistors

The influence of Al content on the RF noise characteristics of Al _xGa_1-xAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) is presented. It is shown that the minimum noise figure (F_min) at 2 GHz is reduced by increasing the Al mole fraction (x). This observed improvement in noise figure is directly correlated to the differences in dc current gain. The lowest measured F_min(2 GHz) of HBT's with emitter dimensions 2×(3.5×30) μm², were 1.3, 1.61, and 2.1 dB for x=0.35, 0.30, and 0.25 devices, respectively at I_c=3 mA. The measured results were found to agree well with calculated values over a wide range of collector currents