This paper demonstrates WTiAu as a thermally stable, low resistance, n
on-alloyed, emitter ohmic contact for GaAs-AlGaAs heterojunction bipol
ar transistor applications. The minimum W layer thickness required for
low contact resistance and long-term thermal stability was obtained.
A W layer 900 angstrom thick yielded the lowest contact resistance (R(
c) = 0.045 OMEGA mm) with a high degree of uniformity after (1) a coll
ector ohmic contact rapid thermal annealing cycle at 420-degrees-C and
(2) 500 h at 250-degrees-C. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy results i
ndicate that In outdiffusion contributes to the thermal instability wh
en thinner W layers are used.