THE GAAS HETEROJUNCTION BIPOLAR-TRANSISTOR - AN ELECTRON DEVICE WITH OPTICAL-DEVICE RELIABILITY

GaAs-based heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) are of interest f or a wide variety of applications. However, concerns about the long-te rm stability of the device have recently arisen. This paper describes the physics of HBT degradation under bias stress as similar to GaAs li ght-emitting diode (LED) and laser diode (LD) degradation. TEM, electr oluminescence, and electrical measurements support this model. Additio nally, the model also indicates the factors in epitaxial growth and de vice processing that are critical to device reliability. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd