TY - JOUR
T1 - On the Cryogenic RF Linearity of SiGe HBTs in a Fourth-Generation 90-nm SiGe BiCMOS Technology
AU - Cardoso, Adilson S.
AU - Omprakash, Anup P.
AU - Chakraborty, Partha Sarathi
AU - Karaulac, Nedeljko
AU - Fleischhauer, David M.
AU - Ildefonso, Adrian
AU - Zeinolabedinzadeh, Saeed
AU - Oakley, Michael A.
AU - Bantu, Tikurete G.
AU - Lourenco, Nelson E.
AU - Cressler, John D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 1963-2012 IEEE.
PY - 2015/4/1
Y1 - 2015/4/1
N2 - Large-signal (P1dB) and small-signal (OIP3) radio frequency (RF) linearities of silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) fabricated in a new fourth-generation 90-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology operating at cryogenic temperatures are investigated. The SiGe BiCMOS process technology has an fT / fmax of 300/350 GHz. SiGe HBTs with two different layout configurations, collector-base-emitter (CBE) and CBE-base-collector (CBEBC), were characterized over temperature. Both dc and ac figures-of-merit are presented to aid in understanding the linearity, and to provide an overall performance comparison between the two layout configurations. The extracted peak fT / fmax for CBE and CBEBC at 78 K are 387/350 and 420/410 GHz, respectively. The P1dB and OIP3 linearity metrics for both configurations are comparable. Source- and load-pull measurements were performed at each temperature at 8 and 18 GHz, with the devices biased at a JC of 18 mA/ μ2. Two-tone measurements over bias were also performed at 300 and 78 K with 50-Ω terminations for the source and load impedances. The 50 Ω results follow a similar response to the source- and load-pull measurements at 300 and 78 K, and demonstrate that the small-signal linearity of the SiGe HBTs is not adversely impacted by operation at cryogenic temperatures. The CBEBC configuration demonstrated the most consistent RF linearity performance at cryogenic temperature out of the two layout options.
AB - Large-signal (P1dB) and small-signal (OIP3) radio frequency (RF) linearities of silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) fabricated in a new fourth-generation 90-nm SiGe BiCMOS technology operating at cryogenic temperatures are investigated. The SiGe BiCMOS process technology has an fT / fmax of 300/350 GHz. SiGe HBTs with two different layout configurations, collector-base-emitter (CBE) and CBE-base-collector (CBEBC), were characterized over temperature. Both dc and ac figures-of-merit are presented to aid in understanding the linearity, and to provide an overall performance comparison between the two layout configurations. The extracted peak fT / fmax for CBE and CBEBC at 78 K are 387/350 and 420/410 GHz, respectively. The P1dB and OIP3 linearity metrics for both configurations are comparable. Source- and load-pull measurements were performed at each temperature at 8 and 18 GHz, with the devices biased at a JC of 18 mA/ μ2. Two-tone measurements over bias were also performed at 300 and 78 K with 50-Ω terminations for the source and load impedances. The 50 Ω results follow a similar response to the source- and load-pull measurements at 300 and 78 K, and demonstrate that the small-signal linearity of the SiGe HBTs is not adversely impacted by operation at cryogenic temperatures. The CBEBC configuration demonstrated the most consistent RF linearity performance at cryogenic temperature out of the two layout options.
KW - Cryogenic temperatures
KW - OIP3
KW - P
KW - SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs)
KW - extreme environments
KW - large-signal linearity
KW - nonlinearity
KW - small-signal linearity
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U2 - 10.1109/TED.2015.2396876
DO - 10.1109/TED.2015.2396876
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85027952756
SN - 0018-9383
VL - 62
SP - 1127
EP - 1135
JO - IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices
JF - IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices
IS - 4
M1 - 7050347
ER -