Comparing RF linearity of npn and pnp SiGe HBTs

Seth, Sachin; Cheng, Peng; Grens, C.M.; Cressler, John D.; Babcock, J.A.; Liu, Yun; Kim, Jonggook; Buchholz, Alan

doi:10.1109/bipol.2009.5314146

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…It is clear that the RF data obtained is very clean, and follows trends predicted by theory. For example, with increasing V CE , C CB capacitances become more linear and hence the SiGe HBT IIP3 increases (this was also observed in [2]). …”

Section: Measurement Setupmentioning

confidence: 50%

“…C-SiGe represents the leading-edge in high-performance analog/mixedsignal design platforms, offering very low power, high speed, efficient push-pull driver stages, and improved bias references [1]. Recent studies [2], [3] on such C-SiGe platforms have shown that the pnp SiGe HBTs have superior RF performance over their npn counterparts in terms of power gain and RF linearity, opening up a realm of interesting design possibilities in high-linearity analog/RF circuit design.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A comparison of intermodulation distortion performance of HICUM and VBIC compact models for pnp SiGe HBTs on SOI

Seth

Cressler

Babcock

et al. 2012

2012 IEEE 12th Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems

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This paper presents the characterization of intermodulation distortion in pnp SiGe HBTs on SOI. For the first time, measured results of pnp SiGe HBTs are compared against Spectre-based simulations using both HICUM and VBIC compact models, after the systematic selection of the appropriate corner models. It is shown that the HICUM model more accurately captures distortion effects than the VBIC model, across a wide range of collector voltages and currents. HICUM is also superior in modeling large-signal nonlinearities such as gain-compression. These results have clear implications for the best-practice design of distortion-sensitive high-frequency SiGe analog and RF circuits.

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Section: Measurement Setupmentioning

confidence: 50%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparison of intermodulation distortion performance of HICUM and VBIC compact models for pnp SiGe HBTs on SOI

Seth

Cressler

Babcock

et al. 2012

2012 IEEE 12th Topical Meeting on Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems

Self Cite

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“…The pnp SiGe HBTs are shown, for instance, to better withstand aggressive RF stress, buying us larger Time-to-Failure (TTF) for the T/R modules. In additional, pnp SiGe HBTs have been shown to outperform the npn SiGe HBTs in power gain and small signal linearity (IIP3) metrics across frequency [5]. Voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) designed from pnp SiGe HBTs have been shown to offer less phase noise, which has direct advantages in PLL design [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A large-signal RF reliability study of complementary SiGe HBTs on SOI intended for use in wireless applications

Seth

Thrivikraman

Cheng

et al. 2010

2010 IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting (BCTM)

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For the first time, a large-signal RF stress study of complementary (npn + pnp) SiGe HBTs on thick-film SOI is performed, and analyses based on device physics are presented, shedding light on the observed failure mechanisms of these C-SiGe HBTs at very high RF input power. Two types of npn SiGe HBTs, low-breakdown voltage (LVNPN) and high-breakdown voltage (HVNPN) devices, as well as a high-breakdown voltage pnp SiGe HBT (HVPNP) in a 250 nm C-SiGe on SOI process are investigated. It is shown that the HVPNP can withstand aggressive RF stress for longer periods of time, compared with the LVNPN and the HVNPN, which succumb to several interesting modes of catastrophic device failure. A case is made for the use of pnp SiGe HBTs in sensitive RF front-ends that may be exposed to non-limited high RF power due to leakages in the transmit/receive (T/R) path or RF reflections.

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Low-power and low-voltage X-band silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor low-noise amplifier

Poh

Seth

Schmid

et al. 2012

IET Microw. Antennas Propag.

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Comparing RF linearity of npn and pnp SiGe HBTs

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

A comparison of intermodulation distortion performance of HICUM and VBIC compact models for pnp SiGe HBTs on SOI

A comparison of intermodulation distortion performance of HICUM and VBIC compact models for pnp SiGe HBTs on SOI

A large-signal RF reliability study of complementary SiGe HBTs on SOI intended for use in wireless applications

Low-power and low-voltage X-band silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor low-noise amplifier

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