Investigation of temperature-dependent performances of InP/In_0.53Ga_0.34Al_0.13As heterojunction bipolar transistors

Temperature-dependent dc performances of lattice-matched InP/InGaAlAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) using the InGaAlAs quaternary alloy as the base and collector layers are studied and reported. When compared with conventional InP/InGaAs HBTs, the device studied exhibits a higher common-emitter breakdown voltage and a lower output conductance even at high temperature. The variations of offset voltage and ideality factor at different temperatures have been analyzed. In addition, with decreasing temperature from 25 °C toward -196 °C, an irregular temperature behaviour of current gain is observed. At high current levels, the temperature-dependent current gain is mainly determined by the reduced reverse hole injection current. As the current level is lowered, the dominance of reverse hole injection current is correspondingly replaced by the recombination current.