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Compact Modeling and Device Simulation of Terahertz InGaAs/InP Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors

Subject Area Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
Term from 2020 to 2025
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 438512651
 
Final Report Year 2025

Final Report Abstract

Heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) possess the highest power handling capability and, through their extremely high transconductance, enable highest circuit speed. Indium-Phosphide (InP) based HBTs have been demonstrated to have a power gain cut-off frequency above 1 Terahertz (THz). Such performance addresses the increasing need in (sub-)mm-wave applications such as high-bandwidth communications, imaging and chemicals detection. For deploying such a high-speed HBT technology in designing circuits and systems, compact transistor models are required that accurately capture measured transistor characteristics over a wide bias, temperature, frequency and device geometry range. The traditionally very limited accuracy and geometry scalability of existing models typically used in the III-V community prevent circuit optimization and thus the full exploitation of the respective technology. In this project, the industry-standard HICUM/L2 compact model has been extended based on TCAD and measurement data. With the proposed model extensions, good agreement with device measurement data (including pulsed measurements) over bias, frequency (up to 220 GHz), device geometry and temperature has been demonstrated for three of the most advanced InP HBT technologies available today. In addition, various circuits have been designed with the model. The measurement results of these circuits, fabricated in the three different InP HBT technologies, have been utilized for verifying the large-signal capability of the model, and excellent results have been obtained. The accuracy of the model has also enabled to study the safe operating area of the HBTs and has been used for generating one-dimensional reference data for the verification and calibration of newly developed device simulation tools. As was shown in the proposal, computationally efficient numerical device simulation tools did not work for III-V HBTs, thus preventing valuable insights into the relevant physical effects. In this project, a two-valley (2v) drift-diffusion (DD) transport based simulation program, augmented by non-local transport effects, has been developed and calibrated for several important binary and ternary compound semiconductors. This 2v-aDD simulator has enabled detailed insights into the operation of advanced InP HBTs and has been a valuable reference for compact model development. The combination of the computationally efficient 2v-aDD tool and the computationally expensive, but physically rigorous, Boltzmann transport solver (of RWTH Aachen) constitutes the first comprehensive and practically usable TCAD framework for advanced III-V HBTs that yields realistic results and includes all relevant physical effects without causing convergence issues. Overall, the integration of the compact model in process design kits along with nine journal publications, eleven conference publications and four theses have made this project quite successful.

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