Observation of the resonant-tunnelling effect and temperature-dependent characteristics of an InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor

The temperature-dependent characteristics of an InP/InGaAs superlattice-emi tter resonant-tunnelling bipolar transistor have been studied and demonstra ted. Due to the use of a five-period InP/InGaAs superlattice, the RT effect is observed at cryogenic temperature. In addition, the temperature-depende nt dc characteristics of the studied device from room temperature to 398 K are reported. Dc current gain remains at an approximately constant value ov er the measured temperature range. The temperature coefficients of base-emi tter and base-collector turn-on voltages are - 2 and -3 mV K-1, respectivel y. The ideality factors of base current (n(B)) and collector current (n(C)) exhibit negative temperature coefficients. n(B) approximate to 1 indicates that the bulk base recombination current component dominates the whole bas e current as the temperature is increased.