First demonstration of the AlGaAs-InGaAsN-GaAs P-n-P double heterojunction bipolar transistor

InGaAsN has received a lot of attention lately. Incorporating a small amount of nitrogen (N) into InGaAs reduces the strain of InGaAs layer grown on GaAs (Sakai et al, 1993; Van Vechten, 1969). In addition, the E/sub G/ decreases as N is added, which is a desirable characteristic for GaAs-based device structures that require material with a smaller E/sub G/ than the 1.42 eV of GaAs. A heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) for low-power applications could also take advantage of the smaller E/sub G/ of InGaAsN for reduction of its turn-on voltage (V/sub ON/), and because InGaAsN is lattice matched to GaAs, the resulting device is compatible with existing GaAs foundries. The first functional InGaAsN N-p-N double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) was demonstrated recently with reduced V/sub ON/ (Chang et al, 2000). The complementary heterojunction bipolar transistor (CHBT) technology has the potential for enhanced circuit performance for digital, analog, and microwave applications compared to circuits using only N-p-n HBTs (Sawdi and Pavlidis, 1999). The goal of this study is to optimize the P-n-p InGaAsN HBT. Realization of the P-n-p InGaAsN HBT, in conjunction with the N-p-n InGaAsN HBT technology, would allow the advantages of the CHBT technology to further extend the usefulness of the InGaAsN-based low-power electronics.