Be diffusion in InGaAs/InP heterojunction bipolar transistors

Author

Bahl, Sandeep R. ; Moll, Nick ; Robbins, Virginia M. ; Kuo, Hao-chung ; Moser, Brian G. ; Stillman, Gregory E.

Author_Institution

Agilent Lab., Palo Alto, CA, USA

Volume

21

Issue

7

fYear

2000

fDate

7/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

332

Lastpage

334

Abstract

Classic signatures of Be diffusion were observed in InAlAs/InGaAs HBT´s after elevated temperature bias stress, i.e., a positive shift in the Gummel plot, higher collector ideality, and higher offset voltage. An activation energy of 1.57 eV was calculated. Lifetimes of 3.3/spl times/106 h and 37000 h were extrapolated for low and high power operation, respectively. In contrast, an InP/InGaAs HBT with a C doped base showed no signatures of C diffusion. The results show that Be diffusion is manageable at lower power. They also support the idea that C is more stable than Be in this material system.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; beryllium; diffusion; gallium arsenide; heterojunction bipolar transistors; indium compounds; semiconductor device reliability; semiconductor doping; Be diffusion; Gummel plot; InAlAs-InGaAs:Be-InP; InAlAs/InGaAs HBT; InGaAs/InP HBTs; activation energy; collector ideality; elevated temperature bias stress; heterojunction bipolar transistors; high power operation; low power operation; offset voltage; positive shift; Etching; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; Indium compounds; Indium gallium arsenide; Indium phosphide; Stress; Substrates; Superlattices; Temperature; Thermal conductivity;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/55.847371

Filename

847371