Numerical simulation of single-particle transients in low-noise amplifiers based on Silicon-Germanium heterojunction transistors and inverse-mode structures

Abstract

In the article,TCAD simulation modeling is carried out for silicon germanium heterojunction transistor (SiGe HBT),and an X-band low noise amplifier (LNA) circuit is built based on the SiGe HBT device model to carry out the hybrid simulation of single-particle transient (SET).The variation rule of SET pulse with different LET values and incident angles of ions is studied,and the results show that:with the increase of incident LET value,the amplitude of SET pulse at the LNA port increases,and the oscillation time is prolonged;with the increase of incident angle of ions,the amplitude of SET pulse at the LNA port first increases and then decreases,and the oscillation time decreases.With the development of the characterization process,the cutoff frequency (<i>f<sub>T</sub></i>),as well as the maximum oscillation frequency (<i>f<sub>MAX</sub></i>) of SiGe HBT devices with IM structures,were measured considering the use of inverse-mode (IM) common emitter and common-base structures (Cascode) to reduce the sensitivity of the LNAs to single-particle effects.The article calibrates the devices of the TCAD platform as well as the devices of the ADS platform,establishes F-F LNAs as well as I-F LNAs on the ADS,respectively,and verifies the relevant RF performances of the LNA circuits using the IM-structured SiGe HBTs as the core devices.SET experiments are performed on the Sentaurus TCAD platform for the F-F LNA and I-F LNA circuits for ions incident at two positions:common base (CB) transistor and common emitter (CE) transistor,respectively.It is concluded that the LNA with IM structure still shows good RF performance compared with the standard LNA at 130 nm.The transient current duration of the LNA circuit with IM Cascode structure is significantly reduced,and the peak value is reduced by 66% or more,which significantly reduces the sensitivity of the SiGe LNA circuit to SET.