A time-domain approach to simulation and characterization of RF HBT two-tone intermodulation distortion

In this paper, we evaluate the two-tone intermodulation distortion for heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) operated at RF. We directly solve the nonlinear differential equations of the HBT large-signal model in time domain by employing the waveform-relaxation and monotone-iterative methods. Based on time-domain results, sinusoidal waveform outputs are transformed into the frequency domain with the fast Fourier transform. Furthermore, the output third-order intercept-point values of the HBT are computed with the spectra. Results for a fabricated InGaP HBT under different testing conditions are reported and compared among the HSPICE results, the results with harmonic balance methodology, and the measured data. Comparisons among these results show that our method demonstrates its superiority over the conventional approaches. This characterization alternative has allowed us to study RF device properties, perform thermal consumption and sensitivity analysis, and extract model parameters.