Common-base Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors Research Articles

Superiority of common-base to common-emitter heterojunction bipolar transistors

Common-emitter (CE) configuration of bipolar junction transistors has been used in virtually all amplifications since the invention of transistor, whereas common-base (CB) configuration has been rarely used due to its inferior performance in comparison to CE. For heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) this conviction needs to be changed. We compared the radio-frequency (rf) power handling capability of the HBT between CE and CB configurations and analyzed their amplification mechanisms. It is found that CB HBT significantly outperforms CE HBT under proper bias conditions, revealing the significant superiority of CB to CE configuration of HBTs for rf power amplification.

A high-power and high-gain X-band Si/SiGe/Si heterojunction bipolar transistor

A double mesa-type Si/SiGe/Si (n-p-n) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) with record output power and power gain at X-band (8.4 GHz) is demonstrated. The device exhibits collector breakdown voltage BV/sub CBO/ of more than 24 V and a maximum oscillation frequency f/sub max/ of 37 GHz. Under continuous-wave operation and class-AB biasing conditions, 24.2-dBm (263-mW) RF output power with concurrent gain of 6.9 dB is measured at the peak power-added efficiency (28.1%) from a single ten-emitter fingers (780-/spl mu/m/sup 2/ emitter area) common-base HBT. The maximum RF output power achieved is as high as 26.3 dBm (430 mW in saturation) and the maximum collector efficiency is 36.9%. The low collector doping concentration together with the device layout result in negligible thermal effects across the transistor and greatly simplifies the large-signal modeling. The conventional Gummel-Poon model yields good agreement between the modeled and the measured de characteristics and small-signal S-parameters. The accuracy of the model is further validated with the measured power performance of the SiGe power HBT at X-band. These results set a benchmark for power performance for SiGe-based HBTs and indicate promise for their implementation in efficient X-band power-amplifier circuits.