Fabrication and characterization of AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors

The fabrication and characterization of MBE-grown AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT´s) are described, A Be redistribution profile in the HBT epi-layer at the emitter-base heterojunction interface is investigated using secondary ion mass spectrometry, A relatively high substrate temperature of 650°C during growth can be employed by introducing a 100-Å undoped spacer layer between the emitter and base layer. A simple wafer characterization method using phototransistors is demonstrated for accurately predicting current gain in a three-terminal device. A dc current gain of up to 230 is obtained for the fabricated HBT with a heavy base doping of 1 × 10¹⁹/cm³. A gain-bandwidth product fTof 25 GHz is achieved with a 4.5-µm-width emitter HBT.