Theoretical small-signal performance of Si/SiGe/Si HBT

Application of the Monte Carlo technique to analyze electron and hole transport in bulk Si_0.8Ge_0.2 and strained Si _0.8Ge_0.2/Si is discussed. The computed minority- and majority-carrier transport properties were used in a comprehensive small-signal model to evaluate the high-frequency performance of a state-of-the-art n-p-n heterostructure bipolar transistors (HBT) fabricated with SiGe as the base material. The valence band discontinuity of a SiGe-base HBT reverses the degradation in emitter injection efficiency caused by bandgap narrowing in the base, and permits a higher ratio of base doping to emitter doping than would be practical for a bipolar transistor. Any degradative effect of increased base doping on electron and hole mobilities is offset by improved transport in the strained SiGe base, resulting in a marked decrease in the base resistance and base transit time. Compared to the Si BJT, the use of Si_0.8Ge_0.2 for the base region of an HBT leads to significant improvements in low-frequency common emitter current gain, low-frequency unilateral power gain, and maximum oscillation frequency     

Simulation analysis of the DC current gain in an n-p-n a-Si:H/SiGe/Si heterojunction bipolar transistor

This paper presents the results of a simulation study focused on the evaluation of the DC characteristics of an n-p-n SiGe-based heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) performing an extremely thin n⁺ hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) emitter. The a-Si:H(n)/SiGe(p) structure exhibits an energy gap difference of approximately 0.8 eV mostly located at the valence band side and this results in an optimal configuration for the emitter/base junction to improve the emitter injection efficiency and thus the device performance.Considering a 20% Ge uniform concentration profile in the base region, simulations indicate that the DC characteristics of an a-Si:H/SiGe HBT are strictly dependent on two essential geometrical parameters, namely the emitter width and the base width. In particular, the emitter thickness degrades device characteristics in terms of current handling capabilities whereas higher current gains are obtained for progressively thinner base regions. A DC current gain exceeding 9000 can be predicted for an optimized device with a thin emitter and a 10 nm-thick, doped base.     

应用于TD-LTE的SiGe BiCMOS功率 放大器的设计

针对准第四代无线通信技术TD-LTE中2.570~2.620 GHz频段的应用,设计了一款基于IBM SiGe BiCMOS7WL工艺的射频功率放大器。该功率放大器工作于AB类,采用单端结构,由两级共发射极电路级联构成,带有基极镇流电阻,除两个谐振电感采用片外元件外,其他全部元件均片上集成,芯片面积为(1.004×0.736)mm2。测试结果表明,在3.3 V电源电压下,电路总消耗电流为109 mA,放大器的功率增益为16 dB,输出1 dB增益压缩点为15 dBm。该驱动放大器具有良好的输入匹配,工作稳定。     

Transistor behavior at high frequencies

The tee equivalent circuit for junction transistors has been modified to take account of electric field in the base region. This electric field is the result of a graded impurity density in the base region of the transistor. It is shown that a graded base improves the high-frequency performances of the common base stage; however, the improvement in common emitter performance is considerably less because of the increased "excess" phase which accompanies the improved high-frequency performance. The complex hybrid parameters are calculated for the common base and common emitter configurations; these calculations take into account the parasitic interterminal capacities of the transistor. The common emitter calculations are compared to measured data, and substantial agreement is obtained.     

一种基于MBE差分外延技术的SiGe低噪声放大器

采用MBE差分外延生长SiGe HBT基区,等平面隔离,多晶硅注入、快速退火形成发射区等工艺,实现了SiGe器件的平面集成。基于上述工艺技术研制的SiGe低噪声放大器(LNA),获得了1.7 GHz的带宽,23 dB的增益和3.5 dB的噪声系数。     

A 4.2-ps ECL ring-oscillator in a 285-GHz fMAX SiGetechnology

This letter reports on the room temperature operation of a conventional SiGe bipolar ECL ring oscillator with a minimum stage delay of 4.2 ps for ~250 mV single ended voltage swing. To our knowledge, this is the lowest reported delay for a gate fabricated using transistor devices. The circuit uses 0.12 × 2 μm² emitter size SiGe n-p-n transistors with a room temperature f_T of 207 GHz and f_MAX (unilateral gain extrapolation) of 285 GHz. The ring oscillator was studied as a function of various device and circuit parameters and it was found that minimum delay is more dependent on the parasitic resistance and capacitance in the n-p-n device than on pure transit time across the device     

Complementary MOS—Bipolar transistor structure

Bipolar transistors can be used to increase the driving capabilities of complementary MOS transistors while retaining the low power dissipation feature. The fabrication of n-p-n bipolar transistors is compatible with the fabrication of the complementary MOS transistors in a monolithic structure. Common collector n-p-n transistors can be fabricated using a diffused n⁺source-drain region as emitter, a diffused p^-isolation region as base and an n^-substrate as collector with a hfegreater than 100. Lateral n-p-n transistors can be fabricated using a diffused n⁺source-drain region as emitter and collector, and p^-isolation region as base with a hfegreater than 10.     

Hole-spreading effect on upward current gain in n-p-n transistors

The upward current gain and stored charge for future small-sized n-p-n transistors have been studied. Included is the effect of hole spreading from a narrow base region to a wide emitter region, whether buried layer or substrate. When base dimensions are comparable with or shorter than the hole diffusion length in the emitter, the hole current is concentrated near the fringe of the base so that the base current tends to be proportional to the base length instead of the base area. The same tendency appears regarding the stored charge in the emitter. Hence, the scaling down of lateral dimensions gives rise to a decline in the upward current gain and cutoff frequency. The calculations introduced here are in quite fair agreement with the observed base currents in sidewall base contact structure (SICOS) n-p-n transistors, where dimensions for the emitter-base junction are almost the same as for the collector-base junction.     

Selfaligned AlGaAs/GaAs HBT grown by MOMBE

The very low parasitic resistance n-p-n GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT) grown by metal organic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE) using all gaseous source dopants are reported. The carbon and tin dopants were introduced through the uses of trimethygallium (TMGa) and tetraethyltin (TESn). To achieve the low parasitics, the graded InGaAs emitter cap layer was doped with tin to 5*10/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/ and the doping level in the subcollector was 3*10/sup 18/ cm/sup -3/. The emitter and collector sheet resistances were 25 Omega / Square Operator and 10 Omega / Square Operator , respectively. The 800 AA thick base layer was carbon doped to a level of 7*10/sup 19/ cm/sup -3/. The base contact resistance and sheet resistance were 0.1 Omega mm and 180 Omega / Square Operator , respectively. With a thin AlGaAs surface passivation layer for the emitter-base junction, the common emitter DC current gain was maintained up to 25, even for 2*5 mu m/sup 2/ emitter size devices. The unity short circuit current gain cutoff frequency f/sub T/, and maximum oscillation frequency f/sub max/, were 48 and 63 GHz, respectively.<>     

16 Gbit/s multiplexer IC using double mesa Si/SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors

A double mesa Si/SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) was developed for application in integrated circuits. The HBT is characterised by an emitter base heterojunction and consequently by a high base doping concentration. By using these transistors an integrated digital circuit, a multiplexer, was implemented. The measured bit rate of this first Si/SiGe HBT circuit was 16 Gbit/s.<>     

Theory of a new three-terminal microwave power amplifier

The feasibility of a new three-terminal linear power amplifier has been demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally from 0.5 to 3.0 GHz. The new amplifier is similar to an n-p-n bipolar transistor in configuration but develops extra power gain through avalanche multiplication and by the use of transit time in the collector. Major differences in the construction of the two devices are in their collector doping profiles and depletion layer widths. It is estimated that this new amplifier will be capable of several watts of power output at 10 GHz with useful gain, good linearity, and wide dynamic range. An acronym, CATT, which stands for controlled avalanche transit-time triode, is used to designate this new microwave semiconductor device. In this paper, the theory of the CATT is developed. It is found to be dc and RF stable. The necessary conditions on the ionization coefficients for signal amplification are investigated. The emitter-base dynamics of the CATT are shown to be quite different from a transistor due to hole feedback from the avalanche multiplication region. This phenomena results in a more uniform emitter current injection and better use of the emitter finger area than for transistors.     

7.1 GHz bandwidth monolithically integratedIn0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As PIN-HBT transimpedance photoreceiver

A monolithically integrated photoreceiver using an InAlAs/InGaAs HBT-based transimpedance amplifier has been fabricated and characterized. The p-i-n photodiode is implemented using the base-collector junction of the HBT. The 5 μm×5 μm emitter area transistors have self-aligned base metal and non-alloyed Ti/Pt/Au contacts. Discrete transistors demonstrated f_T and f_max of 54 GHz and 51 GHz, respectively. The amplifier demonstrated a -3 dB transimpedance bandwidth of 10 GHz and a gain of 40 dBΩ. The integrated photoreceiver with a 10 μm×10 μm p-i-n photodiode showed a -3 dB bandwidth of 7.1 GHz     

Self-aligned bipolar transistors for high-performance and low-power-delay VLSI

An n-p-n bipolar transistor structure with the emitter region self-aligned to the polysilicon base contact is described. The self-alignment results in an emitter-to-base contact separation less than 0.4 µm and a collector-to-emitter area ratio about 3:1 for a two-sided base contact. This ratio can be less than 2:1 for a base contacted only on one side. The vertical doping profile can be optimized independently for high-performance and/or high-density and low-power-delay circuit applications. The technology, using recessed oxide isolation, was evaluated using 13-stage nonthreshold logic (NTL) and 11-stage merged-transition logic (MTL) ring-oscillator circuits designed with 2.5 µm design rules. For transistors with 200-nm emitter junction depth the common-emitter current gain for polysilicon emitter contact is typically 2-4 times that for Pd2Si emitter contact. There is no observable circuit performance degradation attributable to the polysilicon emitter contact. Typical observed per-stage delays were 190 ps at 1.3 mW and 120 ps at 2.3 mW for the NTL (FI = FO = 1) circuits and 1.3 ns at 0.15 mA for the MTL (FO = 4) circuits.     

Leakage current mechanisms in SiGe HBTs fabricated using selectiveand nonselective epitaxy

SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) have been fabricated using selective epitaxy for the Si collector, followed in the same growth step by nonselective epitaxy for the p⁺ SiGe base and n-Si emitter cap. DC electrical characteristics are compared with cross-section TEM images to identify the mechanisms and origins of leakage currents associated with the epitaxy in two different types of transistor. In the first type, the polysilicon emitter is smaller than the collector active area, so that the extrinsic base implant penetrates into the single-crystal Si and SiGe around the perimeter of the emitter and the polycrystalline Si and SiGe extrinsic base. In these transistors, the Gummel plots are near-ideal and there is no evidence of emitter/collector leakage. In the second type, the collector active area is smaller than the polysilicon emitter, so the extrinsic base implant only penetrates into the polysilicon extrinsic base. In these transistors, the leakage currents observed depend on the base doping level. In transistors with a low doped base, emitter/collector and emitter/base leakage is observed, whereas in transistors with a high doped base only emitter/base leakage is observed. The emitter/collector leakage is explained by punch through of the base caused by thinning of the SiGe base at the emitter perimeter. The emitter/base leakage is shown to be due to a Poole-Frenkel mechanism and is explained by penetration of the emitter/base depletion region into the p⁺ polysilicon extrinsic base at the emitter periphery. Variable collector/base reverse leakage currents are observed and a variety of mechanisms are observed, including Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, trap assisted tunneling, Poole-Frenkel and band to band tunneling. These results are explained by the presence of polysilicon grains on the sidewalls of the field oxide at the collector perimeter     

Measurement of low-frequency base and collector current noise andcoherence in SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors usingtransimpedance amplifiers

Transimpedance amplifiers have been used for direct study of current noise in silicon germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) at different biasing conditions. This has facilitated a wider range of resistances in the measurement circuit around the transistor than is possible when using a voltage amplifier for the same kind of measurements. The ac current amplification factor h _fe and the sum of the base and emitter series resistances (r _b+r_e) have been extracted from the noise. It has been established that the dominant noise source is situated in the base emitter junction at the emitter side and is not related to contact resistance noise. The simultaneous measurement of both the base-lead noise and the collector-lead noise and the calculation of the coherence between the signals has facilitated the pinpointing of the dominant noise source in the device and the extraction of (r_b+r_e )     

Visualizing the doping profile of a silicon germanium HBT with polysilicon emitter using electron holography

Modern bipolar transistors use polysilicon emitters and an epitaxial grown silicon germanium (SiGe) base. For device optimization, both the SiGe base and the region of the diffused emitter is of special interest. In this paper, electron holography is applied to visualize and directly measure the two-dimensional distribution of the local potential in a high-performance SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor. Special emphasis is put on investigating the region of the emitter diffused into the epitaxially grown base layer. In addition, we investigate the self-aligned base-link construction. We compare electron holographic measurements of the whole transistor to secondary ion mass spectrometric (SIMS) data and discuss the results.     

Lateral complementary transistor structure for the simultaneous fabrication of functional blocks

Heretofore, the schemes for fabricating a complementary transistor structure in a monolithic functional block entailed either some additional, difficult-to-control processing steps or a sacrifice in isolation of the collector regions of one type of transistor. This paper describes an isolated p-n-p transistor structure fabricated by the same technique used for the conventional all n-p-n transistor functional block without any additional processing steps. The basic p-n-p transistor has a lateral structure. During the p-type base diffusion of the n-p-n transistor, two concentric p-type regions at close distance are selectively diffused into an isolated n- type region such as that used for the collector of an n-p-n transistor. The center p-type diffused region forms the emitter and the outer ring forms the collector. The n-type spacing between these two regions serves as the base. The current gain of this transistor is not high, typically around unity. However, by amplifying the collector current of the p-n-p transistor with an n-p-n transistor, the composite transistor acts like a high gain p-n-p transistor and the composite current gain can be made comparable to that of the n-p-n transistor in the same functional block. The lateral complementary transistor has been used extensively and successfully for the fabrication of linear functional blocks such as those used in the Advanced Minuteman Program.     

Modeling of SiGe-base heterojunction bipolar transistor with gaussian doping distribution

The results of numerical modeling of the base transit time and collector current of SiGe-base heterojunction bipolar transistors with a Gaussian base doping profile and two Ge profiles (linearly graded and box) are presented for the first time. The importance of including the dependence of minority carrier mobility on the drift field and the dependence of the effective density of states on the Ge concentration along the base is demonstrated through the analysis of base transit time and collector current. A function describing the decrease of the density of states product in strained SiGe layers with increasing Ge concentration is proposed.     

Base transit time for SiGe-base heterojunction bipolar transistors

The base transit time expressions for SiGe base heterojunction bipolar transistors are presented including the accelerating field effects due to the base bandgap grading and doping grading, and the retarding field (opposing drift field) effect from the graded boron profile down towards the emitter. It is found that the retarding field exhibits 40-80% contribution to the base transit time, depending on the boron concentration near the emitter. The results of base transit time from these analytic expressions are unambiguously supported by the published simulation data.<>     

Carrier Depth Profile of Si/SiGe/Si n-p-n HBT Structural Materials Characterized by Electrochemical Capacitance-Voltage Method

Si/SiGe/Si n-p-n HBT structural materials have been grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy with disilane, solid Ge, diborane and phosphine as sources. The materials are of good structural properties. The effectiveness of Electrochemical Capacitance-Voltage (ECV) technique on profiling the shallow doped layers of nanometer dimensions has been demonstrated. Compared with spreading resistance probe, the ECV technique is relatively easy to get the carrier distribution profile, especially for the Si/SiGe/Si HBT structural materials with shallow (≤50nm) base regions (p-type SiGe layer, Ge content about 0.2). The results show that n-p-n structures can be obtained by in situ doping.