Low-frequency noise properties of dynamic-threshold (DT) MOSFET's

This paper shows that MOSFET operated in dynamic-threshold (DT) mode (V_body=V_gate) is more suitable for low-noise RF/analog applications than those operated in conventional mode (V_body=V_source). Detailed low-frequency noise properties of these two modes of device operation were compared for 0.31-μm gate MOSFET's, in which NMOS's are surface-channel devices (S.C.) and PMOS's are buried-channel (B.C.) devices. Experimental data show that when the devices are biased at same transconductance, the low-frequency noise in DT mode is 30 times lower (at g_m=2.2×10^-3 S) than that in the conventional mode for the B.C. devices and ten times (at g_m=2.0×10 ^-3 S) lower for the S.C. devices     

InP/InGaAs HBTs with n+-InP contacting layers grown byMOMBE using SiBr4

InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with low resistance, nonalloyed TiPtAu contacts on n⁺-InP emitter and collector contacting layers have been demonstrated with excellent DC characteristics. A specific contact resistance of 5.42×10^-8 Ω·cm², which, to the best of our knowledge, is the lowest reported for TiPtAu on n-InP, has been measured on InP doped n=6.0×10¹⁹ cm^-3 using SiBr₄. This low contact resistance makes TiPtAu contacts on n-InP viable for InP/InGaAs HBTs     

Power performance of InP-based single and double heterojunctionbipolar transistors

The microwave and power performance of fabricated InP-based single and double heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) is presented. The single heterojunction bipolar transistors (SHBTs), which had a 5000 Å InGaAs collector, had BV_CEO of 7.2 V and J_Cmax of 2×10⁵ A/cm². The resulting HBTs with 2×10 μm² emitters produced up to 1.1 mW/μm2 at 8 GHz with efficiencies over 30%. Double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) with a 3000-Å InP collector had a BV_CEO of 9 V and J_{c max} of 1.1×10⁵ A/cm², resulting in power densities up to 1.9 mW/μm² at 8 GHz and a peak efficiency of 46%. Similar DHBTs with a 6000 Å InP collector had a higher BV_CEO of 18 V, but the J _{c max} decreased to 0.4×10⁵ A/cm² due to current blocking at the base-collector junction. Although the 6000 Å InP collector provided higher f_max and gain than the 3000 Å collector, the lower J_{c max} reduced its maximum power density below that of the SHBT wafer. The impact on power performance of various device characteristics, such as knee voltage, breakdown voltage, and maximum current density, are analyzed and discussed     

Comments, with reply, on `Impact ionization in GaAs MESFETs' by K.Hui, et al

In the above-named work (see ibid., vol.11, p.113-15, March 1990), Hui et al. proposed a method to measure impact ionization current in GaAs MESFETs and evaluated the impact ionization coefficient α_n in GaAs. For electric fields greater than approximately 1.5×10⁵ V-cm^-1, α_n can be fitted to the equation α_n=4.0×10 ⁶×exp (-2.3×10⁶/E). In the present work, the commenters performed careful measurements of gate current I_g in GaAs MESFET devices similar to those used by Hui et al., and they show that the ionization coefficient still fits the above equation down to α_n=10^-4 cm^-1 . These results extend the previous data by three orders of magnitude. In a reply, the original authors affirm that the commenters have significantly improved the accuracy of the data previously presented     

Diamond grit-based field emission cathodes

This letter describes the fabrication and operation of diamond grit gated cathodes. The structure is similar to Spindt-type cathode, but the field emission cone is replaced with a more planar diamond grit layer 50 to 200 nm thick. Although the minimum lithographic dimension of these cathodes is from 1 to 5 μm, these devices have exceptionally low turn-on voltages, 5 to 7 V. Cathode current noise is less than 2.5% rms with a maximum absolute current variation of 6.7% over a 6 h period. These devices can operate in pressures of nitrogen above 133 Pa (1 Torr). Although operation in 6.6×10^-2 Pa (5×10 ^-4 Torr) with more reactive gasses, O₂ or H₂ S, degrades performance, the cathodes recover when the pressure is reduced to ⩽1.3×10^-4 Pa (1×10^-6 Torr). Gate current varies from 0.2 to 100 times the emitted current and depends on the technique used to deposit the diamond grit. High current densities (>10 A cm^-2), low gate voltages (<50 V), low emission noise, excellent longevity, temporal uniformity, and ease of fabrication make these devices potential cathodes for flat panel displays. However, excessive gate current and unsatisfactory processing reproducibility at present limit their general application     

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     

Fabrication and characterization of high-performance InP/InGaAsdouble-heterojunction bipolar transistors

This paper is on high-performance InP/InGaAs double-heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBT's) utilizing compositionally step-graded InGaAsP layers between the InGaAs base and InP collector to suppress the current blocking effect. These DHBT's exhibit current gains of 200 and excellent breakdown behavior. Moreover, the DHBT's permit collector current density levels J_C up to 3×10⁵ A/cm ² at V_CE=1.5 V. A current gain cutoff frequency of 155 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency of 90 GHz have been successfully obtained at J_C=1.6×10⁵ A/cm². We have also investigated electron transport properties in the InP collector using a set of DHBT's with different injection energies into the InP collector. By increasing the injection energies, electron velocity is found to decrease from 3.5×10⁷ cm/s to 1.6×10⁷ cm/s, due to increased population of upper valleys. This result clearly demonstrates the significant role of nonequilibrium Γ-valley transport in determining the high-speed performance of InP/InGaAs DHBT's     

Temperature-humidity-bias behavior and acceleration factors fornonhermetic uncooled InP-based lasers

The stability of uncooled InP-based laser diodes in humid ambients was studied. Nonhermetic devices were aged at two different temperatures and humidities at a constant current and at one temperature and humidity at six different drive currents. For all nonhermetic devices failure occurred as a result of a large increase in the threshold current. The reverse leakage current for the failures did not increase when the threshold current increased, indicating that the change in threshold was a result of a change in reflectivity of one or both facets. The hermetic control group of devices aged under many of the same conditions showed a gradual increase in both the threshold current and slope efficiency. The median lifetimes as determined by assuming a device was a failure when the threshold current increased by 50% was strongly dependent upon humidity temperature and drive current. The lifetime data was fit to and equation of the form lifetime exp(-E_α/kT) exp(-B_RH [RH²]). The values of E_α and B_RH were 0.52 eV and 4.9×10^-4/%², respectively. The current drive data was fit to and expression of the form lifetime a exp(I^αI_op) where I_α as 0.09 h/mA. The lifetime dependence on current drive was modeled by assuming that the drive current caused a local temperature rise through thermal resistance. This local temperature rise then caused a decrease in the local humidity at the diode surface through an expression of the form %RH_diodeα exp (-5990[1/(T_r+T_ambient)-1/T_ambient ])where where T_r is the local temperature rise due to thermal impedance. Finally, we present our preliminary results on the reliability of nonhermetic SiO_x passivated lasers. These results indicate that such lasers can be made with sufficient reliability for use in telecommunications application     

Emission cross sections and spectroscopy of Ho3+ laserchannels in KGd(WO4)2 single crystal

The spectroscopic properties of Ho³⁺ laser channels in KGd(WO₄)₂ crystals have been investigated using optical absorption, photoluminescence, and lifetime measurements. The radiative lifetimes of Ho³⁺ have been calculated through a Judd-Ofelt (JO) formalism using 300-K optical absorption results. The JO parameters obtained were Ω₂=15.35×10^-20 cm², Ω ₄=3.79×10^-20 cm², Ω₆ =1.69×10^-20 cm². The 7-300-K lifetimes obtained in diluted (8·10¹⁸ cm^-3) KGW:0.1% Ho samples are: τ(⁵F₃)≈0.9 μs, τ( ⁵S₂)=19-3.6 μs, and τ(⁵F₅ )≈1.1 μs. For Ho concentrations below 1.5×10²⁰ cm^-3, multiphonon emission is the main source of non radiative losses, and the temperature independent multiphonon probability in KGW is found to follow the energy gap law τ_ph ^-1(0)=βexp(-αΔE), where β=1.4×10^-7 s^-1, and α=1.4×10³ cm. Above this holmium concentration, energy transfer between Ho impurities also contributes to the losses. The spectral distributions of the Ho³⁺ emission cross section σ_EM for several laser channels are calculated in σ- and π-polarized configurations. The peak a σ_EM values achieved for transitions to the ⁵I₈ level are ≈2×10^-20 cm² in the σ-polarized configuration, and three main lasing peaks at 2.02, 2.05, and 2.07 μm are envisaged inside the ⁵I₇→⁵I₈ channel     

DC characteristics of high-breakdown-voltage p-i-n diodes made by20-MeV Si implantation in InP:Fe

A vertical p-i-n diode is made for the first time in InP:Fe using megaelectronvolt energy ion implantation, A 20-MeV Si implantation and kiloelectronvolt energy Be/P coimplantation are used to obtain a buried n⁺ layer and a shallow p⁺ layer, respectively. The junction area of the device is 2.3×10^-5 cm² and the intrinsic region thickness is ≈3 μm. The device has a high breakdown voltage of 110 V, reverse leakage current of 0.1 mA/cm² at -80 V, off-state capacitance of 2.2 nF/cm² at -20 V, and a DC incremental forward resistance of 4 Ω at 40 mA     

A New InP/InGaAs Double Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor With a Step-Graded InAlGaAs Collector Structure

An interesting InP/InGaAs double heterojunction bipolar transistor with a step-graded InAlGaAs layer at the base-collector (B-C) heterojunction is fabricated and studied. Simulated results reveal that the potential spike at the B-C heterointerface is completely eliminated. Experimentally, the operation regime is wider than 11 decades in magnitude of the collector current (I_c = 10^-12 A to I_c = 10^-1 A). Furthermore, the studied device exhibits a relatively high common-emitter breakdown voltage and low output conductance even at high temperature. In the microwave characteristics, the unity current gain cutoff frequency f_T = 72.7 GHz and the maximum oscillation frequency f _max = 50 GHz are achieved for a nonoptimized device (A_E = 6 times 6 mum²).     

A high-performance InGaAs/InAlAs double-heterojunction bipolartransistor with nonalloyed n+-InAs cap layer on InP(n) grownby molecular beam epitaxy

An InGaAs/InAlAs double-heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) on InP(n) grown by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) that exhibits high DC performance is discussed. An n⁺-InAs emitter cap layer was used for nonalloyed contacts in the structure and specific contact resistances of 1.8×10^-7 and 6.0×10^-6 Ω-cm² were measured for the nonalloyed emitter and base contacts, respectively. Since no high-temperature annealing is necessary, excellent contact surface morphology on thinner base devices can easily be obtained. In devices with 50×50-μm² emitter area, common-emitter current gains as high as 1500 were achieved at a collector current density of 2.7×10³ A/cm² . The current gain increased up to 2000 for alloyed devices     

Carrier transport related analysis of high-power AlGaN/GaN HEMTstructures

Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillation and Hall measurement results were compared with HEMT DC and RF characteristics for two different MOCVD grown AlGaN-GaN HEMT structures on semiinsulating 4H-SiC substrates. A HEMT with a 40-nm, highly doped AlGaN cap layer exhibited an electron mobility of 1500 cm²/V/s and a sheet concentration of 9×10¹² cm at 300 K (7900 cm²/V/s and 8×10¹² cm^-2 at 80 K), but showed a high threshold voltage and high DC output conductance. A 27-nm AlGaN cap with a thinner, lightly doped donor layer yielded similar Hall values, but lower threshold voltage and output conductance and demonstrated a high CW power density of 6.9 W/mm at 10 GHz. The 2DEG of this improved structure had a sheet concentration of n_SdH=7.8×10¹² cm^-2 and a high quantum scattering lifetime of τ_q=1.5×10^-13 s at 4.2 K compared to n_SdH=8.24×10¹² cm^-2 and τ_q=1.72×10^-13 s for the thick AlGaN cap layer structure, Despite the excellent characteristics of the films, the SdH oscillations still indicate a slight parallel conduction and a weak localization of electrons. These results indicate that good channel quality and high sheet carrier density are not the only HEMT attributes required for good transistor performance     

High-speed InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors

Very-high-performance common-emitter InP/InGaAs single heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) grown by metalorganic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE) are reported. They exhibit a maximum oscillation frequency (f_T) of 180 GHz at a current density of 1×10⁵ A/cm². this corresponds to an (R_BC_BC)_eff=f _T/(8πf²_max) delay time of 0.12 ps, which is the smallest value every reported for common-emitter InP/InGaAs HBTs. The devices have 11 μm² total emitter area and exhibit current gain values up to 100 at zero base-collector bias voltage. The breakdown voltage of these devices is high with measured BV_CEO and BV_CEO of 8 and 17 V, respectively     

High-Current-Gain InP/GaInP/GaAsSb/InP DHBTs With fT = 436 GHz

Combining a pseudomorphically strained (Ga,In)P emitter with a GaAs_0.6Sb_0.4 base effectively eliminates the emitter heterojunction type-II conduction band offset in InP/GaAsSb double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs). A peak f_T of 436 GHz at J_C = 10 mA/mum², with BV_CEO = 3.8 V, is achieved with 0.6 times 5 mum² InP/GalnP/GaAsSb DHBTs with a 75-nm InP collector. Compared to a binary InP emitter, the (Ga,In)P emitter doubles the DC current gain from 166 to 338 for otherwise identical devices. These are the highest DC current gain and cutoff frequencies to date in uniform base GaAsSb DHBTs. The gain improvement reported here will greatly facilitate device design tradeoffs that are encountered while scaling InP/GaAsSb DHBTs toward higher frequencies by allowing higher base doping levels and smaller emitter geometries.     

A new process of fabricating inverted-staggered tri-layer thin-filmtransistors

A new method of fabricating a-Si:H TFT with etching-stop structure has been proposed. Only one plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is required in this new method and a PH₃/H₂ plasma treatment during the deposition has been used to form the TFT contact and thus saved another plasma deposition. With this method, a TFT of 500 Å active layer has been fabricated successfully. The drain current and saturation mobility of this device is 2.4×10^-7 A and 0.1 cm²/V sec, respectively, which is comparable to the conventional fabricating method. The plasma treatment will also form an additional leakage path on the TFT top surface and increase the TFT subthreshold slope. However, a current of less than 1 pA at V_G=-2.4 V can still be obtained. The possible mechanism of the contact formation by the plasma treatment is also discussed     

Arrays of microdischarge devices having 50-100 μm squarepyramidal Si anodes and screen cathodes

Microdischarge devices having (50-100 μm)² pyramidal Si anodes and metal screen cathodes have been operated continuously at Ne gas pressures up to 1350 Torr and voltages below 95 V. More than 34 μW of output power is produced by a single device in a solid angle of ~5×10^-2 sr for a Ne pressure of 500 Torr. 3×3 arrays of these devices have been fabricated     

High-performance, 0.1 μm InAlAs/InGaAs high electron mobilitytransistors on GaAs

This letter describes the material characterization and device test of InAlAs/InGaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown on GaAs substrates with indium compositions and performance comparable to InP-based devices. This technology demonstrates the potential for lowered production cost of very high performance devices. The transistors were fabricated from material with room temperature channel electron mobilities and carrier concentrations of μ=10000 cm² /Vs, n=3.2×10¹² cm^-2 (In=53%) and μ=11800 cm²/Vs, n=2.8×10¹² cm^-2 (In=60%). A series of In=53%, 0.1×100 μm² and 0.1×50 μm² devices demonstrated extrinsic transconductance values greater than 1 S/mm with the best device reaching 1.074 S/mm. High-frequency testing of 0.1×50 μm² discrete HEMT's up to 40 GHz and fitting of a small signal equivalent circuit yielded an intrinsic transconductance (g_m,i) of 1.67 S/mm, with unity current gain frequency (f_T) of 150 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation (f_max) of 330 GHz. Transistors with In=60% exhibited an extrinsic g_m of 1.7 S/mm, which is the highest reported value for a GaAs based device     

Delta-doped AlGaN/AlN/GaN microwave HFETs grown by metalorganicchemical vapour deposition

The performance of an innovative delta-doped AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterojunction field-effect transistor (HFET) structure is reported. The epitaxial heterostructures were grown on semi-insulating SiC substrates by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapour deposition. These structures exhibit a maximum carrier mobility of 1058 cm²/V s and a sheet carrier density of 2.35×10¹³ cm^-2 at room temperature, corresponding to a large n_s μ_n product of 2.49×10¹⁶ V s. HFET devices with 0.25 μm gate length were fabricated and exhibited a maximum current density as high as 1.5 A/mm (at V_G=+1 V) and a peak transconductance of g_m=240 mS/mm. High-frequency device measurements yielded a cutoff frequency of f_t≃50 GHz and maximum oscillation frequency f_max≃130 GHz     

Investigation of inductively coupled plasma gate oxide on lowtemperature polycrystalline-silicon TFTs

By optimizing the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) oxidation condition, a thin oxide of 10 nm has been grown at 350°C to achieve excellent gate oxide integrity of low leakage current<5×10^-8 A/cm² (at 8 MV/cm), high breakdown field of 9.3 MV/cm and low interface trap density of 1.5×10¹¹ /eV cm². The superior performance poly-Si TFTs using such a thin ICP oxide were attained to achieve a high ON current of 110 μA/μm at V_D=1 V and V_G=5 V and the high electron field effect mobility of 231 cm²/V·S