Influence of surface recombination on the burn-in effect in microwave GaInP/GaAs HBT´s

Author

Borgarino, Mattia ; Plana, Robert ; Delage, Sylvain Laurent ; Fantini, Fausto ; Graffeuil, Jacques

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Ingegneria dell´´Inf., Parma Univ., Italy

Volume

46

Issue

1

fYear

1999

fDate

1/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

10

Lastpage

16

Abstract

In this paper, we report on the early increase of the dc current gain (burn-in effect) due to the electrical stress of carbon doped GaInP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). Devices featuring different passivation layers, base doping, and emitter widths were investigated. The obtained data demonstrate that the burn-in effect is due to a reduction of the surface recombination located at the extrinsic base surface, around the emitter perimeter. It is concluded that the recombination centers are related to defects at the passivation/semiconductor interface and that, during the stress, they are passivated by hydrogen atoms released from C-H complexes

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; gallium arsenide; gallium compounds; heterojunction bipolar transistors; indium compounds; microwave bipolar transistors; passivation; semiconductor device reliability; surface recombination; GaInP-GaAs; base doping; burn-in effect; dc current gain; electrical stress; emitter perimeter; emitter widths; extrinsic base surface; microwave HBTs; passivation layers; recombination centers; surface recombination; Electrons; Gallium arsenide; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; Hydrogen; Lattices; Passivation; Radiative recombination; Semiconductor device doping; Spontaneous emission; Stress;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.737435

Filename

737435