Total ionizing dose effects of domestic SiGe HBTs under different dose rates

Abstract

The total ionizing radiation (TID) response of commercial NPN silicon germanium hetero-junction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs) produced domestically are investigated under dose rates of 800 mGy(Si)/s and 1.3 mGy(Si)/s with a Co-60 gamma irradiation source. The changes of transistor parameters such as Gummel characteristics, and excess base current before and after irradiation, are examined. The results of the experiments show that for the KT1151, the radiation damage is slightly different under the different dose rates after prolonged annealing, and shows a time dependent effect (TDE). For the KT9041, however, the degradations of low dose rate irradiation is higher than for the high dose rate, demonstrating that there is a potential enhanced low dose rate sensitivity (ELDRS) effect for the KT9041. The possible underlying physical mechanisms of the different dose rates responses induced by the gamma rays are discussed.