Quasiballistic electron transport in cryogenic SiGe HBTs studied using an exact, semi-analytic solution to the Boltzmann equation

Abstract

Silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) are of interest as low-noise microwave amplifiers due to their competitive noise performance and low cost relative to III-V devices. The fundamental noise performance limits of HBTs are thus of interest, and several studies report that quasiballistic electron transport across the base is a mechanism leading to cryogenic non-ideal IV characteristics that affects these limits. However, this conclusion has not been rigorously tested against theoretical predictions because prior studies modeled electron transport with empirical approaches or approximate solutions of the Boltzmann equation. Here, we study non-diffusive transport in narrow-base SiGe HBTs using an exact, semi-analytic solution of the Boltzmann equation based on an asymptotic expansion approach. We find that the computed transport characteristics are inconsistent with experiment, implying that quasiballistic electron transport is unlikely to be the origin of cryogenic non-ideal IV characteristics. Our work helps to identify the mechanisms governing the lower limits of the microwave noise figure of cryogenic HBT amplifiers.