Surface passivation of lnP/ln0.53Ga0.47As heterojunction bipolar transistors for opto-electronic integration

We report for the first time, a surface passivation technique for InP/In_0.53Ga_0.47As heterojunction bipolar transistors that is suitable for optoelectronic integrated circuits. The combination of buffered hydrofluoric acid with high temperature annealing of the surface causes significant increase of the gain at low input currents. Using this technique, transistors were integrated with photodetectors and other optoelectronic devices and had current gains as high as 400 even at nanoampere base currents.