The history of Silicon Germanium (SiGe) at IBM is a story of persistence. T
he program began with an idea to replace a conventional implantation step,
used in every silicon semiconductor bipolar process, by growing an in-situ
doped alloy (SiGe). Many people thought the idea was of value only for a fe
w exotic niche "research" applications. This is a story about how a small g
roup of people persuaded a large digital computer manufacturer to invest in
a new unproven technology for telecommunication applications in a field wh
ich the company knew little about. It is a success story, as SiGe technolog
y has now become the only BiCMOS technology in development in IBM and is in
the roadmaps of every major telecommunication company.