Tradeoff between 1/f noise and microwave performance in AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors

The 1/f noise characteristics and microwave gain of AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT´s) have been investigated as a function of surface passivation ledge length. These measurements clearly demonstrate that the ledge length imposes a tradeoff between the 1/f noise and microwave power gain performance. Compared to a conventional unpassivated self-aligned HBT, HBT´s with 0.4 and 1.1 μm ledge lengths improve the equivalent input base noise current spectral density at 100 Hz by as much as 2 dB and 6.5 dB, respectively; while degrading the maximum available gain at 18 GHz by 0.3 dB and 2.4 dB, respectively