Title :
Reliability investigation in SiGe HBT´s
Author :
Kuchenbecker, J. ; Borgarino, M. ; Bary, L. ; Cibiel, G. ; Llopis, O. ; Tartarin, J.G. ; Graffeuil, J. ; Kovacic, S. ; Roux, J.L. ; Plana, R.
Author_Institution :
Lab. d´Autom. et d´Anal. des Syst., CNRS, Toulouse, France
Abstract :
This paper addresses some reliability properties of SiGe HBTs. We first verified that no major problems were related to the SiGe layer through DC life tests. In the second step, we investigated the hot carrier influence on the DC, noise and microwave properties of these devices. We found that some degradation was occurring at the extrinsic base region in the vicinity of the emitter associated with some surface recombination. These assumptions have been described by physical simulations and confirmed by low frequency noise characterization. Finally, it has been demonstrated that microwave properties are affected by the mechanism and we propose a bias method that results in its minimization.
Keywords :
Ge-Si alloys; heterojunction bipolar transistors; life testing; microwave bipolar transistors; semiconductor device models; semiconductor device noise; semiconductor device reliability; semiconductor device testing; semiconductor materials; surface recombination; DC life tests; DC properties; SiGe; SiGe HBTs; SiGe layer; bias method; emitter region; extrinsic base region; hot carrier influence; low frequency noise characterization; microwave properties; minimization; noise properties; physical simulations; reliability; reliability properties; surface recombination; Degradation; Germanium silicon alloys; Hot carriers; Life testing; Low-frequency noise; Mechanical factors; Microwave devices; Microwave theory and techniques; Minimization methods; Silicon germanium;
Conference_Titel :
Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems, 2001. Digest of Papers. 2001 Topical Meeting on
Conference_Location :
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7129-1
DOI :
10.1109/SMIC.2001.942353
