Lateral protrusions of ohmic contacts to AlGaAs/GaAs MODFET material

Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy is used to determine the structure of Au-, Ge- and Ni-based ohmic contacts at the interface with AlGaAs/GaAs modulation-doped field-effect-transistor material. Significant lateral diffusion (?0.12?m) is found to occur at the edge of the contact during alloying. The observed contact structure places a limit on minimum geometries and must be taken into account if accurate device modelling is to be carried out.     

Nonalloyed ohmic contacts for p/sup +/-type in GaAs base layer in HBTs

Two new metallisation systems, Pd/Pt and Cr/Au, for nonalloyed ohmic contacts on p/sup +/-InGaAs have been compared with the Ti/Pt contact. The observed strong dependence of the contact resistivity on the metal is related to its work function. The lowest resistivities are achieved with Pd/Pt, e.g. 1.2*10/sup -6/ Omega cm/sub 2/ for p=1.7*/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/.<>     

AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs for 10-Gb/s ICs using a new base ohmic contactfabrication process

A new basic ohmic contact technology for AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) is presented. The effect of the device parameters on the high-frequency performance of HBT ICs for 10-Gb/s systems is analyzed, and it is shown that, at a cutoff frequency (f_T) of 40 GHz or more, reducing base resistance or collector capacitance is more effective than increasing f_T for obtaining high-frequency performance. A process is developed for fabricating base electrodes with a very low ohmic contact resistivity, ~10^-7 Ω-cm², by using a AuZn/Mo/Au alloy, which provides the required high performance. Self-aligned AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs, with a 2.5-μm×5-μm emitter, using a AuZn/Mo/Au alloy base metal and an undoped GaAs collector, are shown to have an f_T and a maximum oscillation frequency of about 45 and 70 GHz, respectively, at 3.5 mA. An AGC amplifier with a 20-dB gain and a bandwidth of 13.7 GHz demonstrates stable performance     

A new fabrication technology for AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT LSIs using InGaAsnonalloyed ohmic contacts

The authors studied the nonalloyed ohmic characteristics of HEMTs (high electron mobility transistors). At high integration levels, nonalloyed ohmic contacts were found to have two advantages: an extremely short ohmic length with low parasitic source series resistance and direct connection between the source/drain and gate with the same metal. The propagation delay in a ring oscillator with a single-metal source/drain and gate formed simultaneously was 37 ps/gate (L _g=0.9 μm). The very short ohmic metal contacts and just three contact holes made it possible to reduce the memory cell area greatly. The cell is 21.5×21.5 μm², one of the smallest ever reported for a GaAs-based static RAM. Using smaller load HEMTs or resistor loads in the memory cell, combined with nonalloyed ohmic technology with quarter- or subquarter-micrometer-gate HEMTs it is possible to fabricate a very-high-speed LSI such as a 64-kb static RAM with a reasonable chip size     

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。     

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     

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     

Reliability of AuGe/Pt and AuGe/Ni ohmic contacts on GaAs

The reliability of AuGe/Pt and AuGe/Ni ohmic contacts with and without overlay metal (Ti/Au, Ti/Pt/Au or TiW/Au) has been studied. AuGe/Ni contacts have proved superior and more reliable than AuGe/Pt contacts with or without overlay. AuGe/Pt contacts are stable without overlay but degrade rapidly with overlay. AuGe/Ni contacts exhibit thermal stability after 1000 hours' aging at 250°C.     

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     

MBE-grown AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs on InP substrate

AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs are fabricated on InP substrates for the first time. Preliminary results show a current gain of 5 at a collector current density of 2 × 104A/cm2 in spite of a dislocation density higher than 109/cm2.     

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.     

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.<>     

Hot-plate alloying for ohmic contacts to GaAs

The fabrication and optimization of ohmic contacts to GaAs prepared by heating the wafers on a hot plate is described. The method offers high throughput and is production adaptable. The apparatus consists of a hot plate constructed of a heat pipe with a high surface temperature uniformity (±2°C over 4-in diameter) located inside a glove box with an ambient controlled to 5 percent H2/95 percent N2forming gas. Specific resistance and morphology of AuGe/Ni/Au contacts were characterized as a function of hot-plate surface temperature. At the optimum alloy temperature, specific resistances of less than 10^-6Ω-cm²were obtained repeatably for VPE GaAs with active layers of n ∼ 10¹⁷cm^-3and thicknesses of ∼0.4 µm as well as for VPE GaAs with an n⁺surface layer greater than 10¹⁸cm^-3. The contact surface morphologies were smoothest for those alloyed at temperatures below the optimum, and, for those alloyed at or above the optimum, they were increasingly less smooth for increasingly higher alloy temperatures. A general discussion of this method's potential application to high-volume GaAs processing is given.     

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.     

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.<>     

Passivation of ohmic contacts to GaAs

A film of silicon dioxide was used to passivate Au-Ge-Ni metallization during the alloying cycle. Ohmic contacts prepared in this way had smooth surfaces, better edge definition, and more uniform electrical characteristics. Also the time-temperature alloying cycle for fabricating suitable contacts was significantly broadened. These improvements are most likely due to the prevention of arsenic loss during the alloying procedure.     

Optimization of AuGe-Ni-Au ohmic contacts for GaAs MOSFETs

GaAs-based metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are promising devices for high-speed and high-power applications. One important factor influencing the performance of a GaAs MOSFET is the characteristics of ohmic contacts at the drain and source terminals. In this paper, AuGe-Ni-Au metal contacts fabricated on a thin (930 /spl Aring/) and lightly doped (4/spl times/10/sup 17/ cm/sup -3/) n-type GaAs MOSFET channel layer were studied. The effects of controllable processing factors such as the AuGe thickness, the Ni/AuGe thickness ratio, alloy temperature, and alloy time to the characteristics of the ohmic contacts were analyzed. Contact qualities including specific contact resistance, contact uniformity, and surface morphology were optimized by controlling these processing factors. Using the optimized process conditions, a specific contact resistance of 5.6/spl times/10/sup -6/ /spl Omega//spl middot/cm/sup 2/ was achieved. The deviation of contact resistance and surface roughness were improved to 1.5% and 84 /spl Aring/, respectively. Using the improved ohmic contacts, high-performance GaAs MOSFETs (2 /spl mu/m/spl times/100 /spl mu/m) with a large drain current density (350 mA/mm) and a high transconductance (90 mS/mm) were fabricated.