Advanced Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor for Half-THz SiGe BiCMOS Technology

The high-frequency performance of a novel SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) module with monocrystalline base link is investigated in an industrial 0.13- $\mu \text{m}$ BiCMOS environment. The main feature of this new HBT module is a significant reduction of the external base resistance as shown here by direct comparison with a conventional double-poly-silicon technology. Peak $f_{\mathrm { {T}}}/f_{\mathrm { {max}}}$ values of 300/500 GHz are achieved. A minimum current-mode logic ring oscillator gate delay of 1.8 ps and a record operation frequency for a SiGe static frequency divider of 161 GHz are demonstrated.