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Reliability properties of SiGe HBTs
Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
Reliability properties of SiGe HBTs A. Rennanea,*, L. Barya, J.L. Rouxb, J. Kuchenbeckerb, J. Graffeuila, R. Planaa a
LAAS-CNRS, Universite´ Paul Sabatier, 7 Av. du Col. Roche, 31077 Toulouse Cedex 4, France b CNES Toulouse, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31077 Toulouse Cedex 04, France
Abstract This paper relates the reliability properties exhibited by SiGe HBT devices. Different type of stress have been applied (DC life test, hot electron stress and radiation experiments). It has been shown that hot electron stress turns out to a surface degradation confirmed by noise measurements, RF measurements and physical simulations. Concerning the radiation experiments, the results have shown that a degradation mechanism is located at the surface attributed to mobile charges in the passivation layer. Finally, it is stated that SiGe devices feature attractive reliability properties and that they could be used in space applications. # 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 72.70; 72.20.J; 85.30; 61.80 Keywords: Reliability; Low frequency noise; Hot electron stress; Irradiation experiments
1. Introduction During the last decade, a lot of efforts have been conducted to improve the silicon based technology. More precisely, silicon became a very serious contender for RF applications through the emergence of the Silicon Germanium technology. The most mature technology is the bipolar technology where the SiGe alloy speeds up the device performance up to the millimeterwave range [1–12]. Furthermore, SiGe HBT technology has demonstrated very attractive capabilities in term of circuit point of view with low noise amplifier for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) applications [13,14], millimeterwave mixer [15]and very low phase noise oscillator [16,17]and programmable divider [18]. Assuming these performances, it is foreseen to use the SiGe based techno-
*
Corresponding author.
logies in many wireless applications. Among them, one is very interested by the introduction of these technologies deals with the space applications where, low phase noise oscillator and divider are the key elements for the microwave front end modules and a lot of industrial companies are looking for to replace the conventionnal GaAs based technologies by Silicon based technologies. Nevertheless, space applications exhibit very strict requirements in term of reliability and before to be involved at the industrial level, there is a need to evaluate the reliability behavior within these devices, to identify the degradation mechanisms in order to be able to propose technological solutions and/or design solutions to minimize them or to estimate the activation energy of these mechanism to predict the life time of an equipement. In this communication, we will present reliability investigation carried out on SiGe HBT. Different stress conditions will be applied in order to have an overall view of the degradation mechanisms that could exist. In order to
0169-4332/$ – see front matter # 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2003.08.075
342
A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
get a deeper insight concerning these mechanisms, we will use original approach based on DC, dynamic and noise characterization and some two-dimensional physical simulations. The paper will be organized as follows. Section 2 will present briefly the devices under discussion. Section 3 will address the DC life test experiments that have been performed. Section 4 will deal with some DC stress that could occur in the RF circuit (overdrive voltage) due to some matching drift for example. Section 5, will propose an investigation of the device behavior under radiation as it is one of the critical issue for space applications. Finally, conclusions will be outlined in the last section of this paper.
2. Device description The SiGe HBT devices under discussion here are compatible with CMOS process and feature a Ge ramp in the base layer ranging from 0 to 12%. The emitter width of the devices is 0.8 mm. The frequency performance are in the 50 GHz range. Some devices have been stressed directly at the wafer level, other devices have been firstly packaged onto an hermetic ceramic package realized by Kyocera. The stress procedure have been applied on a minimum set of five devices in order to minimize the technological dispersion effects. Most of the results that will be presented will be issued
from an averaging done on the set of device. In Section 3, we will present the results that have been obtained after DC life test experiments.
3. DC life test experiments The first stress we have applied on the devices deals with DC life test. We have applied a forward stress in order to get a junction temperature of 125 8C. This stress has been applied during more than 2000 h. The DC parameters and noise parameters have been monitored at different steps. Fig. 1 reports the evolution of the DC current gain during the stress procedure. For clarity reasons, we have plotted the normalized current with respect to its initial value. The results indicate that the DC current gain variation are very small which confirms that the SiGe layer is very stable at least with respect to this kind of stress. Furthermore, we have to outline that no deviation of the low frequency noise behavior has been reported. The next section will present a secon kind of stress which consists to stress the device in the hot electron regime.
4. Hot electron stress This kind of stress has been applied at the wafer level through a high reverse voltage at the emitter base
Fig. 1. Evolution of the DC current gain DC life test for two devices featuring maximum and minimum deviation, respectively.
A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
343
Fig. 2. Forward gummel plots measurements and simulations device and stressed device.
junction. Fig. 2 presents the DC behavior evolution with respect to this stress. We can observe that the collector current remains unchanged during the stress when a large degradation of the base current is occurring. This base component has been calculated assuming an increase of the recombination rate at the extrinsic base region coupled with a tunneling effect producing some leakage current. The experimental data have been supported by two-dimensional physical simulations done by Silvaco software. We have
furthermore performed exhaustive low frequency noise measurements of the noise generators including their correlation. Fig. 3 reports a large degradation of the input noise current generator which is related to the base current fluctuations. The examen of the correlation between the noise generators have confirmed the location of the degradation mechanism at the extrinsic base region [19]. We have conducted additionnal measurements in the microwave range and we have observed a degradation of the dynamic gain. This
Fig. 3. Input Low frequency noise current measurements and modelling for a SiGe HBT before and after hot electron stress.
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A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
effect has been attributed to an increase of the surface recombination rate and has been supported by twodimensional physical simulations [20]. We have furthermore demonstrated that an appropriate DC bias results to a minimization of the degradation mechanism by biasing the device at a constant current level instead than at a constant voltage level. The last section will present the reliability behavior of SiGe HBT with respect to radiation experiments.
5. Radiation experiments The last type of stress deals with radiations experiments that have been done on both biased and unbiased devices. The radiating source was Co60 (Co60) featuring 1.33 MeV energy and a 13.5 krad/s bit rate. Radiations experiments have been done up to 1 Mrad total dose. The reliability behavior has been
monitored through DC, RF and low frequency noise measurements. We have observed that the degradation was more pronounced for biased devices than for unbiased ones which indicate that the current is a factor of acceleration of the degradation. Fig. 4 shows the DC current gain evolution versus different radiation steps. We can observe a small degradation of the DC current gain showing that the SiGe devices withstand to radiations. This is very important for a possible use of this technology for space applications. Fig. 5 shows the forward gummel plots evolution before radiation, after 1 Mrad, 48 h and 3 months after the last radiations experiments respectively. First of all, we have to outline that the radiation has an impact only on the recombination current. The second comment deals with a degradation effect that continues after the last experiments. Finally, it is also shown that the degradation mechanism recovers after three months. We have to note that this DC behavior is
Fig. 4. DC current gain evolution for a set of HBT vs. different radiation steps.
Fig. 5. Forward Gummel plot evolution before and after radiation experiments.
A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
345
Fig. 6. Input Low frequency noise current evolution before and after radiation experiments.
confirmed by the low frequency noise behavior as plotted in Fig. 6 where we can see that the degradation is continuing 48 h after the last radiation step when a recovering effect of the noise is also observed three months later. This behavior is related to the charge evolution in the oxide passivation layer coupled with the generation of interface and surface states. Furthermore, we have conducted residual phase noise measurements which consists to a phase fluctuations in the open loop configuration and the results have shown that the degradation induced by the radiation experiments was very small [21] which confirms the ability of these devices for space applications.
6. Conclusions This paper outlines reliability investigation of microwave SiGe HBTs. This kind of technology has already demonstrated huge capabilities for low noise applications specially for oscillator. We furthermore demonstrated that despite a strain SiGe layer, the reliability behavior is similar to those observed in conventionnal Silicon device. The reliability has been addressed by mean of both DC, noise and RF measurements. Specific noise measurements have permitted to locate the degardation mechanism at the surface of the device. All the experiments have been supported by physical simulations that have shown a good agreement with measurements. Concerning the radiation immunity, we have observed a degradation
mechanism related to the modification of the charge oxide in the passivation layer. We have demonstrated that these devices are less sensitive than the former Silicon technologies due to the fact that the surface is smaller and that the SiGe base layer is thinner. We believe that these technologies will emerge very soon for low noise space applications as they exhibit superior noise performance than their III–V counterparts with reasonnable reliability properties. References [1] J.D. Cressler, SiGe HBT technology: a new contender for Sibased rf and microwave circuit applications, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techniq. 46 (5) (1998) 572–589. [2] P. Russer, Si and SiGe millimeter-wave integrated circuits, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techniq. 46 (5) (May 1998), 590–603. [3] K. Oda, E. Ohue, M. Tanabe, H. Shimamoto, T. Onai, K. Washio, 130 GHz fT SiGe HBT Technology, Tech Dig. IEDM 97, Washington, 7–10 December 1997, pp. 791–794. [4] E.F. Crabbe, B.S. Meyerson, J.M.C. Stork, D.L. Harame, Vertical optimization of very high frequency epitaxial Si- and SiGe-base bipolar transistors, Technol. Dig. IEDM’93, pp. 83– 86. [5] D. Harame, L. Larson, M. Case, S. Kovacic, S. Voiginescu, T. Tewksbury, D. Nguyen-Ngoc, K. Stein, J. Cressler, S.J. Jeng, J. Malinowski, R. Groves, E. Eld, D. Sunderland, D. Rensch, M. Gilbert, K. Schonenberg, D. Ahlgren, S. Rosenbaum, J. Glenn, B. Meyerson, SiGe HBT Technology: device and applications issues, Tech Dig. IEDM 95 (1995) 731–734. [6] A. Schupen, A. Gruhle, U. Erben, H. Kibbel, U. Konig, SiGeHBTs with high ft at moderate current densities, Electron Lett. 14 (30) (1994) 1187–1189.
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A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
[7] A. Gruhle, A. Schupen, Recent Advances with SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors, Thin Solid Films 294 (1–2) (1997) 246–249. [8] A. Chantre, M. Marty, J.L. Regolini, M. Mouis, J. De Pontcharra, D. Dutartre, C.Morin, D. Gloria, S. Jouan, F. Chaudier, M. Aussous, M. Roche, A highly manufacturable 0.35 mm SiGe HBT Technology with 70 GHz fmax, in: Proceedings of the ESSDERC’98, Bordeaux, 8–10 September 1998, pp. 448–451. [9] M. Hong, E. De Fresart, J. Steele, A. Zlotnicka, C. Stein, G. Tann, High performance SiGe epitaxial base bipolar transistor produced by a reduced pressure CVD reactor, IEEE Electron Device Lett. 14 (1993) 450–452. [10] M. Borgarino, S. Kovacic, H. Lafontaine, Z. Feng Zhou, R. Plana, in: Proceedings of the Low Noise Considerations in SiGe BiCMOS Technology for rf Applications Wirelless’99 Conference, Munich, 3–8 October 1999. [11] T.F. Meister, H. Schafer, M. Franosch, W. Molzer, K. Aufinger, U. Scheler, C. Walz, M. Stolz, S. Boguth, J. Bock, SiGe base bipolar technology with 74 GHz fmax and 11ps gate delay in Technol. Dig. IEDM’95, 1995, pp. 739–742. [12] B. Jagannathan, et al., Self aligned SiGe NPN transistors with 285 GHz fmax and 207 GHz ft in a manufacturable technology, IEEE EDL 23 (5) (2002) 258–260. [13] U. Erben, H. Schumacher, A. Schuppen, J. Arndt, Application of SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors in 5.8 and 10 GHz low-noise amplifiers, Electron. Lett. 34 (15) (1998) 1498–1500. [14] D. Zoschg, H. knapp, T.F. Meister, W. Wilhelm, J. Bock, M. Wurzer, K. Aufinger, H.D. Wohlmuth, A.L. Scholtz, Monolithic Low Noise Amplifiers up to 10 GHz in Silicon and SiGe
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
Bipolar Technologies Microwave Engineering, Europe, March 2001, pp. 59–62. S. Hackl, et al., in: Proceedings of the MTT-S, 40 GHz Monolithic Integrated Mixer in SiGe Bipolar Technology, 2002, pp. 1241–1244. R. Plana, et al., in: Proceedings of the SiGe Bipolar Technologies for Low Phase Noise rf and Microwave Oscillators Invited Paper at RFIC’2000, Boston, June 2000. S. Voiginescu, et al., in: Proceedings of the MTT-S, A family of Monolithic Inductor Varactor SiGe HBT VCOs for 20 GHz to 30 GHz and Fiber Optic Receiver Applications, 2000. E. Tournier, et al., in: Proceedings of the RFIC Symposium A 14.5 GHz–0.35 mm frequency divider for dual modulus prescaler, 2002, pp. 227–230. M. Borgarino, J.G. Tartarin, J. Kuchenbecker, T. Parra, H. Lafontaine, S. Kovacic, R. Plana, J. Graffeuil, On the effects of the hot carriers on the rf characteristics of Si/SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors, IEEE Microwave Guided Wave Lett. 10 (11) (2000) 466–468. J. Kuchenbecker, M. Borgarino, A. Coustou, R. Plana, J. Graffeuil, F. Fantini, Evaluation of the hot carrier/ionizing radiation induced effects on the rf characteristics of low complexity SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors by numerical simulation, Microelectron. Reliability 40 (2000) 1579– 1584. G. Niu, J.B. Juraver, M. Borgarino, Z. Jin, J.D. Cressler, R. Plana, O. Llopis, S. Mathew, S. Zhang, S. Clark, A.J. Joseph, Impact of Gamma irradiations on the rf phase noise capability of UHV/CVD SiGe HBTs, J. Solid State Electron. 45 (1) (2001) 107–112.
Reliability properties of SiGe HBTs A. Rennanea,*, L. Barya, J.L. Rouxb, J. Kuchenbeckerb, J. Graffeuila, R. Planaa a
LAAS-CNRS, Universite´ Paul Sabatier, 7 Av. du Col. Roche, 31077 Toulouse Cedex 4, France b CNES Toulouse, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31077 Toulouse Cedex 04, France
Abstract This paper relates the reliability properties exhibited by SiGe HBT devices. Different type of stress have been applied (DC life test, hot electron stress and radiation experiments). It has been shown that hot electron stress turns out to a surface degradation confirmed by noise measurements, RF measurements and physical simulations. Concerning the radiation experiments, the results have shown that a degradation mechanism is located at the surface attributed to mobile charges in the passivation layer. Finally, it is stated that SiGe devices feature attractive reliability properties and that they could be used in space applications. # 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 72.70; 72.20.J; 85.30; 61.80 Keywords: Reliability; Low frequency noise; Hot electron stress; Irradiation experiments
1. Introduction During the last decade, a lot of efforts have been conducted to improve the silicon based technology. More precisely, silicon became a very serious contender for RF applications through the emergence of the Silicon Germanium technology. The most mature technology is the bipolar technology where the SiGe alloy speeds up the device performance up to the millimeterwave range [1–12]. Furthermore, SiGe HBT technology has demonstrated very attractive capabilities in term of circuit point of view with low noise amplifier for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) applications [13,14], millimeterwave mixer [15]and very low phase noise oscillator [16,17]and programmable divider [18]. Assuming these performances, it is foreseen to use the SiGe based techno-
*
Corresponding author.
logies in many wireless applications. Among them, one is very interested by the introduction of these technologies deals with the space applications where, low phase noise oscillator and divider are the key elements for the microwave front end modules and a lot of industrial companies are looking for to replace the conventionnal GaAs based technologies by Silicon based technologies. Nevertheless, space applications exhibit very strict requirements in term of reliability and before to be involved at the industrial level, there is a need to evaluate the reliability behavior within these devices, to identify the degradation mechanisms in order to be able to propose technological solutions and/or design solutions to minimize them or to estimate the activation energy of these mechanism to predict the life time of an equipement. In this communication, we will present reliability investigation carried out on SiGe HBT. Different stress conditions will be applied in order to have an overall view of the degradation mechanisms that could exist. In order to
0169-4332/$ – see front matter # 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2003.08.075
342
A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
get a deeper insight concerning these mechanisms, we will use original approach based on DC, dynamic and noise characterization and some two-dimensional physical simulations. The paper will be organized as follows. Section 2 will present briefly the devices under discussion. Section 3 will address the DC life test experiments that have been performed. Section 4 will deal with some DC stress that could occur in the RF circuit (overdrive voltage) due to some matching drift for example. Section 5, will propose an investigation of the device behavior under radiation as it is one of the critical issue for space applications. Finally, conclusions will be outlined in the last section of this paper.
2. Device description The SiGe HBT devices under discussion here are compatible with CMOS process and feature a Ge ramp in the base layer ranging from 0 to 12%. The emitter width of the devices is 0.8 mm. The frequency performance are in the 50 GHz range. Some devices have been stressed directly at the wafer level, other devices have been firstly packaged onto an hermetic ceramic package realized by Kyocera. The stress procedure have been applied on a minimum set of five devices in order to minimize the technological dispersion effects. Most of the results that will be presented will be issued
from an averaging done on the set of device. In Section 3, we will present the results that have been obtained after DC life test experiments.
3. DC life test experiments The first stress we have applied on the devices deals with DC life test. We have applied a forward stress in order to get a junction temperature of 125 8C. This stress has been applied during more than 2000 h. The DC parameters and noise parameters have been monitored at different steps. Fig. 1 reports the evolution of the DC current gain during the stress procedure. For clarity reasons, we have plotted the normalized current with respect to its initial value. The results indicate that the DC current gain variation are very small which confirms that the SiGe layer is very stable at least with respect to this kind of stress. Furthermore, we have to outline that no deviation of the low frequency noise behavior has been reported. The next section will present a secon kind of stress which consists to stress the device in the hot electron regime.
4. Hot electron stress This kind of stress has been applied at the wafer level through a high reverse voltage at the emitter base
Fig. 1. Evolution of the DC current gain DC life test for two devices featuring maximum and minimum deviation, respectively.
A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
343
Fig. 2. Forward gummel plots measurements and simulations device and stressed device.
junction. Fig. 2 presents the DC behavior evolution with respect to this stress. We can observe that the collector current remains unchanged during the stress when a large degradation of the base current is occurring. This base component has been calculated assuming an increase of the recombination rate at the extrinsic base region coupled with a tunneling effect producing some leakage current. The experimental data have been supported by two-dimensional physical simulations done by Silvaco software. We have
furthermore performed exhaustive low frequency noise measurements of the noise generators including their correlation. Fig. 3 reports a large degradation of the input noise current generator which is related to the base current fluctuations. The examen of the correlation between the noise generators have confirmed the location of the degradation mechanism at the extrinsic base region [19]. We have conducted additionnal measurements in the microwave range and we have observed a degradation of the dynamic gain. This
Fig. 3. Input Low frequency noise current measurements and modelling for a SiGe HBT before and after hot electron stress.
344
A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
effect has been attributed to an increase of the surface recombination rate and has been supported by twodimensional physical simulations [20]. We have furthermore demonstrated that an appropriate DC bias results to a minimization of the degradation mechanism by biasing the device at a constant current level instead than at a constant voltage level. The last section will present the reliability behavior of SiGe HBT with respect to radiation experiments.
5. Radiation experiments The last type of stress deals with radiations experiments that have been done on both biased and unbiased devices. The radiating source was Co60 (Co60) featuring 1.33 MeV energy and a 13.5 krad/s bit rate. Radiations experiments have been done up to 1 Mrad total dose. The reliability behavior has been
monitored through DC, RF and low frequency noise measurements. We have observed that the degradation was more pronounced for biased devices than for unbiased ones which indicate that the current is a factor of acceleration of the degradation. Fig. 4 shows the DC current gain evolution versus different radiation steps. We can observe a small degradation of the DC current gain showing that the SiGe devices withstand to radiations. This is very important for a possible use of this technology for space applications. Fig. 5 shows the forward gummel plots evolution before radiation, after 1 Mrad, 48 h and 3 months after the last radiations experiments respectively. First of all, we have to outline that the radiation has an impact only on the recombination current. The second comment deals with a degradation effect that continues after the last experiments. Finally, it is also shown that the degradation mechanism recovers after three months. We have to note that this DC behavior is
Fig. 4. DC current gain evolution for a set of HBT vs. different radiation steps.
Fig. 5. Forward Gummel plot evolution before and after radiation experiments.
A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
345
Fig. 6. Input Low frequency noise current evolution before and after radiation experiments.
confirmed by the low frequency noise behavior as plotted in Fig. 6 where we can see that the degradation is continuing 48 h after the last radiation step when a recovering effect of the noise is also observed three months later. This behavior is related to the charge evolution in the oxide passivation layer coupled with the generation of interface and surface states. Furthermore, we have conducted residual phase noise measurements which consists to a phase fluctuations in the open loop configuration and the results have shown that the degradation induced by the radiation experiments was very small [21] which confirms the ability of these devices for space applications.
6. Conclusions This paper outlines reliability investigation of microwave SiGe HBTs. This kind of technology has already demonstrated huge capabilities for low noise applications specially for oscillator. We furthermore demonstrated that despite a strain SiGe layer, the reliability behavior is similar to those observed in conventionnal Silicon device. The reliability has been addressed by mean of both DC, noise and RF measurements. Specific noise measurements have permitted to locate the degardation mechanism at the surface of the device. All the experiments have been supported by physical simulations that have shown a good agreement with measurements. Concerning the radiation immunity, we have observed a degradation
mechanism related to the modification of the charge oxide in the passivation layer. We have demonstrated that these devices are less sensitive than the former Silicon technologies due to the fact that the surface is smaller and that the SiGe base layer is thinner. We believe that these technologies will emerge very soon for low noise space applications as they exhibit superior noise performance than their III–V counterparts with reasonnable reliability properties. References [1] J.D. Cressler, SiGe HBT technology: a new contender for Sibased rf and microwave circuit applications, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techniq. 46 (5) (1998) 572–589. [2] P. Russer, Si and SiGe millimeter-wave integrated circuits, IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Techniq. 46 (5) (May 1998), 590–603. [3] K. Oda, E. Ohue, M. Tanabe, H. Shimamoto, T. Onai, K. Washio, 130 GHz fT SiGe HBT Technology, Tech Dig. IEDM 97, Washington, 7–10 December 1997, pp. 791–794. [4] E.F. Crabbe, B.S. Meyerson, J.M.C. Stork, D.L. Harame, Vertical optimization of very high frequency epitaxial Si- and SiGe-base bipolar transistors, Technol. Dig. IEDM’93, pp. 83– 86. [5] D. Harame, L. Larson, M. Case, S. Kovacic, S. Voiginescu, T. Tewksbury, D. Nguyen-Ngoc, K. Stein, J. Cressler, S.J. Jeng, J. Malinowski, R. Groves, E. Eld, D. Sunderland, D. Rensch, M. Gilbert, K. Schonenberg, D. Ahlgren, S. Rosenbaum, J. Glenn, B. Meyerson, SiGe HBT Technology: device and applications issues, Tech Dig. IEDM 95 (1995) 731–734. [6] A. Schupen, A. Gruhle, U. Erben, H. Kibbel, U. Konig, SiGeHBTs with high ft at moderate current densities, Electron Lett. 14 (30) (1994) 1187–1189.
346
A. Rennane et al. / Applied Surface Science 224 (2004) 341–346
[7] A. Gruhle, A. Schupen, Recent Advances with SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors, Thin Solid Films 294 (1–2) (1997) 246–249. [8] A. Chantre, M. Marty, J.L. Regolini, M. Mouis, J. De Pontcharra, D. Dutartre, C.Morin, D. Gloria, S. Jouan, F. Chaudier, M. Aussous, M. Roche, A highly manufacturable 0.35 mm SiGe HBT Technology with 70 GHz fmax, in: Proceedings of the ESSDERC’98, Bordeaux, 8–10 September 1998, pp. 448–451. [9] M. Hong, E. De Fresart, J. Steele, A. Zlotnicka, C. Stein, G. Tann, High performance SiGe epitaxial base bipolar transistor produced by a reduced pressure CVD reactor, IEEE Electron Device Lett. 14 (1993) 450–452. [10] M. Borgarino, S. Kovacic, H. Lafontaine, Z. Feng Zhou, R. Plana, in: Proceedings of the Low Noise Considerations in SiGe BiCMOS Technology for rf Applications Wirelless’99 Conference, Munich, 3–8 October 1999. [11] T.F. Meister, H. Schafer, M. Franosch, W. Molzer, K. Aufinger, U. Scheler, C. Walz, M. Stolz, S. Boguth, J. Bock, SiGe base bipolar technology with 74 GHz fmax and 11ps gate delay in Technol. Dig. IEDM’95, 1995, pp. 739–742. [12] B. Jagannathan, et al., Self aligned SiGe NPN transistors with 285 GHz fmax and 207 GHz ft in a manufacturable technology, IEEE EDL 23 (5) (2002) 258–260. [13] U. Erben, H. Schumacher, A. Schuppen, J. Arndt, Application of SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors in 5.8 and 10 GHz low-noise amplifiers, Electron. Lett. 34 (15) (1998) 1498–1500. [14] D. Zoschg, H. knapp, T.F. Meister, W. Wilhelm, J. Bock, M. Wurzer, K. Aufinger, H.D. Wohlmuth, A.L. Scholtz, Monolithic Low Noise Amplifiers up to 10 GHz in Silicon and SiGe
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
Bipolar Technologies Microwave Engineering, Europe, March 2001, pp. 59–62. S. Hackl, et al., in: Proceedings of the MTT-S, 40 GHz Monolithic Integrated Mixer in SiGe Bipolar Technology, 2002, pp. 1241–1244. R. Plana, et al., in: Proceedings of the SiGe Bipolar Technologies for Low Phase Noise rf and Microwave Oscillators Invited Paper at RFIC’2000, Boston, June 2000. S. Voiginescu, et al., in: Proceedings of the MTT-S, A family of Monolithic Inductor Varactor SiGe HBT VCOs for 20 GHz to 30 GHz and Fiber Optic Receiver Applications, 2000. E. Tournier, et al., in: Proceedings of the RFIC Symposium A 14.5 GHz–0.35 mm frequency divider for dual modulus prescaler, 2002, pp. 227–230. M. Borgarino, J.G. Tartarin, J. Kuchenbecker, T. Parra, H. Lafontaine, S. Kovacic, R. Plana, J. Graffeuil, On the effects of the hot carriers on the rf characteristics of Si/SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors, IEEE Microwave Guided Wave Lett. 10 (11) (2000) 466–468. J. Kuchenbecker, M. Borgarino, A. Coustou, R. Plana, J. Graffeuil, F. Fantini, Evaluation of the hot carrier/ionizing radiation induced effects on the rf characteristics of low complexity SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors by numerical simulation, Microelectron. Reliability 40 (2000) 1579– 1584. G. Niu, J.B. Juraver, M. Borgarino, Z. Jin, J.D. Cressler, R. Plana, O. Llopis, S. Mathew, S. Zhang, S. Clark, A.J. Joseph, Impact of Gamma irradiations on the rf phase noise capability of UHV/CVD SiGe HBTs, J. Solid State Electron. 45 (1) (2001) 107–112.