Investigation of bias dependence on enhanced low dose rate sensitivity in SiGe HBTs for space application

NPN silicon–germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) were exposed to 60Co gamma source at different dose rates under two bias conditions. Excess base currents and normalized current gains are used to quantify performance degradation. Experiment results demonstrate that the lower the dose rate, the more the irradiation damage, and some enhanced low dose rate sensitivity (ELDRS) exists in SiGe HBTs. The ELDRS effect is found to depend highly on the bias condition during exposure, and the transistors with forward active mode exhibit a more serious ELDRS effect compared to the floating case. The performance degradation at different dose rates and bias conditions is compared and discussed, and furthermore the underlying physical mechanisms are analyzed and investigated in detail.