A Compact Formulation for Avalanche Multiplication in SiGe HBTs at High Injection Levels

• Published in: IEEE transactions on electron devices Vol. 66; no. 1; pp. 264 - 270
• Main Authors: Jaoul, Mathieu, Maneux, Cristell, Celi, Didier, Schroter, Michael, Zimmer, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-01-2019; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Avalanche; Avalanches; compact model; Doping; Electric fields; Emitters; Engineering Sciences; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; high injection; Impact ionization; kirk effect; Micro and nanotechnologies; Microelectronics; Model accuracy; Multiplication; Rangefinding; safe operating area (SOA); Semiconductor devices; Semiconductor process modeling; Silicon; Silicon germanides; Silicon germanium; silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs)
• ISSN: 0018-9383; 1557-9646
• DOI: 10.1109/TED.2018.2875494

This paper presents a unified physical formulation for the avalanche effect in silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs) at different injection levels. Based on an analytical description of the resulting electric-field distribution, a closed-form analytical expression for the multiplication factor is derived and has been implemented in the HICUM compact model. The model accuracy close to and beyond the common-emitter breakdown voltage BV CEO has been assessed over a wide temperature range in comparison to measurements of SiGe HBTs with different collector doping profiles and emitter geometries.