Design trade-offs in InP based HBT ICs

The authors describe the current state of the art results and highlight design tradeoffs encountered for applications in analog, digital, and microwave circuits using InP based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). InP based HBTs are not merely devices for application in optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs). While the OEIC efforts continue, interest is increasing in very high performance systems for analog, digital, and power microwave applications. In the last year, significant improvements in device performance have been accomplished by grading the emitter-base junction and modifying the collector to enhance the breakdown performance. Issues of reliability are now getting attention and the technology is being applied more widely