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Tunneling, Current Gain, and Transconductance in Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors Operating at Millikelvin Temperatures

D. Davidović1,*, H. Ying2, J. Dark1, B. R. Wier2, L. Ge1, N. E. Lourenco2, A. P. Omprakash2, M. Mourigal1, and J. D. Cressler2

  • 1School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
  • 2School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA

  • *dragomir.davidovic@physics.gatech.edu
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Phys. Rev. Applied 8, 024015 – Published 18 August, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.8.024015

Abstract

Quantum-transport measurements in advanced silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs) are presented and analyzed, including tunneling spectroscopy of discrete impurity levels localized within the transistor and the dependence on an applied magnetic field. The collector current at millikelvin temperatures is well accounted for by ideal electron tunneling throughout the entire base. The amplification principle at millikelvin temperatures is fundamentally quantum mechanical in nature: an increase in base voltage, requiring a moderate base current, creates an equal and opposite decrease in the tunneling barrier seen by the electrons in the emitter, thereby increasing the collector current significantly more than the base current, producing current gain. Highly scaled SiGe HBTs operate predictably at millikelvin temperatures, thus opening the possibility of viable SiGe millikelvin circuitry.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 8, 024015– Published 18 August, 2017
  • Received 15 November 2016
Article part of CHORUS

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