Determining the base resistance of InP HBTs: An evaluation of methods and structures

Abstract

Many different methods can be found in the literature for determining both the internal and external base series resistance based on single transistor terminal characteristics. Those methods are not equally reliable or applicable for all technologies, device sizes and speeds. In this review, the most common methods are evaluated regarding their suitability for InP heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) based on both measured and simulated data. Using data generated by a sophisticated physics-based compact model allows an evaluation of the extraction method precision by comparing the extracted parameter value to its known value. Based on these simulations, this study provides insight into the limitations of the applied methods, causes for errors and possible error mitigation. In addition to extraction methods based on just transistor terminal characteristics, test structures for separately determining the components of the base resistance from sheet and specific contact resistances are discussed and applied to serve as reference for the experimental evaluation.