Cryogenic operation of third-generation, 200-GHz peak-fT, silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors

We present a comprehensive investigation of the cryogenic performance of third-generation silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology. Measurements of the current-voltage (dc), small-signal ac, and broad-band noise characteristics of a 200-GHz SiGe HBT were made at 85 K, 120 K, 150 K, 200 K, and 300 K. These devices show excellent behavior down to 85 K, maintaining reasonable dc ideality, with a peak current gain of 3800, a peak cut-off frequency (f_T) of 260 GHz, a peak f_max of 310 GHz, and a minimum noise figure (NF_min) of approximately 0.30 dB at a frequency of 14 GHz, in all cases representing significant improvements over their corresponding values at 300 K. These results demonstrate that aggressively scaled SiGe HBTs are inherently well suited for cryogenic electronics applications requiring extreme levels of transistor performance.