An Investigation of the Large-Signal RF Safe-Operating-Area on Aggressively-Biased Cascode SiGe HBTs for Power Amplifier Applications

This paper presents analysis of RF safe-operating- area of aggressively-biased cascode SiGe HBT power amplifier cores under large-signal operating conditions. It is demonstrated that as VC and |ZL| increase, the RF power threshold to cause catastrophic device failure is reduced. Comparisons between calculated results and measured data show excellent agreement. I. INTRODUCTION

[1]  A. Inoue,et al.  The maximum operating region in SiGe HBTs for RF power amplifiers , 2002, 2002 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (Cat. No.02CH37278).

[2]  P. Lu,et al.  Collector-base junction avalanche effects in advanced double-poly self-aligned bipolar transistors , 1989 .

[3]  Qingqing Liang,et al.  The Effects of Scaling and Bias Configuration on Operating-Voltage Constraints in SiGe HBTs for Mixed-Signal Circuits , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[4]  Alvin J. Joseph,et al.  SIGE HBT PERFORMANCE AND IQLIABILITY TRENDS THROUGH fT OF 350GHZ , 2003 .

[5]  Hans-Martin Rein,et al.  Influence of impact-ionization-induced instabilities on the maximum usable output voltage of Si-bipolar transistors , 2001 .

[6]  J.D. Cressler,et al.  A High-Gain, Two-Stage, X-Band SiGe Power Amplifier , 2007, 2007 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium.

[7]  Jinhong Yuan.  Base current reversal in bipolar transistors and circuits: a review and update , 1994 .

[8]  Peiyi Chen,et al.  On the reliability of SiGe microwave power heterojunction bipolar transistor , 2000, Proceedings 2000 IEEE Hong Kong Electron Devices Meeting (Cat. No.00TH8503).

[9]  P.-O. Brandt,et al.  Silicon-germanium BiCMOS HBT technology for wireless power amplifier applications , 2004, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[10]  David R. Greenberg,et al.  A doping concentration-dependent upper limit of the breakdown voltage–cutoff frequency product in Si bipolar transistors , 2004 .

[11]  Philip G. Neudeck,et al.  Study of Bulk and Elementary Screw Dislocation Assisted Reverse Breakdown in Low-Voltage ( 250 V ) 4 H – SiC p n Junction Diodes — Part II : Dynamic Breakdown Properties , 1999 .

[12]  J. D. Chlipala,et al.  Explosion of poly-silicide links in laser programmable redundancy for VLSI memory repair , 1989 .

[13]  P. G. Neudeck,et al.  Study of bulk and elementary screw dislocation assisted reverse breakdown in low-voltage (<250 V) 4H-SiC p/sup +/-n junction diodes. II. Dynamic breakdown properties , 1999 .

[14]  J.D. Cressler,et al.  Large-Signal Performance, Linearity, and Reliability Characteristics of Aggressively-Biased Cascode SiGe HBTs for Power Amplifier Applications , 2007, 2007 IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting.