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

• Published in: 58th DRC. Device Research Conference. Conference Digest (Cat. No.00TH8526) pp. 147 - 148
• Main Authors: Chang, P.C., Li, N.Y., Laroche, J.R., Monier, C., Baca, A.G., Hou, H.Q., Ren, F., Pearton, S.J.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2000
• Subjects: Capacitive sensors; DH-HEMTs; Double heterojunction bipolar transistors; Foundries; Gallium arsenide; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; Indium gallium arsenide; Lattices; Nitrogen; Voltage
• ISBN: 9780780364721; 0780364724
• DOI: 10.1109/DRC.2000.877126

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.