Heterostructure confinement effect on the negative-differential-resistance (ndr) bipolar transistor

Wen Chau Liu, Jun Hui Tsai, Lih Wen Laih, Cheng-Zu, Kong Beng Thei, Wen Shiung Lour, Der Feng Guo

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1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

We review the current investigation of heterostructure-emitter bipolar transistors (HEBT) and pay attention to confinement effects on the common-emitter current gain and the occurrence of negative-differential resistance (NDR). Three main devices with different heterostructure emitters have been grown and discussed. These devices include single-(SHEBT), double-(DHEBT), and resonant tunneling-(RT-HEBT) structure with Al0.5Ga0.5As/500Å-GaAs, Al0.5Ga0.5As/500Å-GaAs and 5-period 50Å-Al0.5Ga0.5As/50Å-GaAs superlattic emitters, respectively. With respect to current gain, it is found that Al0.5Ga0.5As/500Å-GaAs gives the best confinement effect on hole minority carriers We obtain common-emitter current gains of 180, 18, and 65 for the SHEBT, DHEBT and RT-HEBT, respectively. Besides, all of the studied devices exhibit an interesting S-shaped negative-differential resistance (NDR) resulting from the regenerative switching process. With respect to NDR performance, the Al0.5Ga0.5As/500Å-GaAs, shows the best confinement effect on the ionized electrons. The controlled voltage efficiencies are 1.43, 1.77, and 1.12 for SHEBT, DHEBT, and RT-HEBT, respectively.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)445-456
Number of pages12
JournalSuperlattices and Microstructures
Volume17
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1995 Jun

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Materials Science
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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