Experimental investigation on the degradation of SiGe LNAs under different bias conditions induced by 3 MeV proton irradiation

Li, Zhuoqi; Liu, Shuhuan; Ren, Xiaotang; Adekoya, Mathew Adefusika; Zhang, Jun; Liu, Shuangying

doi:10.1016/j.net.2021.08.009

Cited by 3 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Once the device parameters of the SiGe HBT in the LNA were extracted, the modeling was conducted for the pre-and post-irradiation conditions [25,27]. For parameters that changed after irradiation, their values were modeled based on the information in the literature [3,4]. In this stage, circuit performance metrics such as matching, gain, and noise figure were derived as closed-form equations.…”

Section: Lna Schematic and Device Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They exhibit good radio frequency (RF) performance parameters such as high unity-gain frequency (f T ) and maximum oscillation frequency (f MAX ) [1][2][3]. Moreover, in order to investigate their potential usage in extreme environment (e.g., space), radiation effects on SiGe-HBT devices and circuits have been studied in the literature [2][3][4][5][6]. It has been found that SiGe HBTs can often maintain performance up to an ionizing dose of hundreds of krad(SiO 2 ) or greater [3][4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, in order to investigate their potential usage in extreme environment (e.g., space), radiation effects on SiGe-HBT devices and circuits have been studied in the literature [2][3][4][5][6]. It has been found that SiGe HBTs can often maintain performance up to an ionizing dose of hundreds of krad(SiO 2 ) or greater [3][4][5][6]. SiGe HBTs are not highly dependent on the quality of their oxide layers, unlike typical metal-oxide-semiconductor devices [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Still, SiGe HBTs undergo performance degradation due to total ionizing dose (TID), and they can show increases in leakage current and reductions in gain. The key mechanism associated with this degradation includes the generation of traps in the emitter-base (EB) spacer and oxide area of the shallow trench isolation (STI) [3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Simple Modeling and Analysis of Total Ionizing Dose Effects on Radio-Frequency Low-Noise Amplifiers

Kim,

Ryu,

Lee

et al. 2024

Electronics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, the degradation characteristics of radio frequency (RF)-low-noise amplifiers (LNA) due to a total ionizing dose (TID) is investigated. As a device-under-test (DUT), sample LNAs were prepared using silicon–germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) as core elements. The LNA was based on a cascode stage with emitter degeneration for narrowband applications. By using a simplified small-signal model of a SiGe HBT, design equations such as gain, impedance matching, and noise figure (NF) were derived for analyzing TID-induced degradations in the circuit-level performance. To study radiation effects in circuits, the SiGe-RF-LNAs fabricated in a commercial 350 nm SiGe technology were exposed to 10-keV X-rays to a total ionizing dose of up to 3 Mrad(SiO2). The TID-induced performance changes of the LNA were modeled by applying degradation to device parameters. In the modeling process, new parameter values after irradiation were estimated based on information in the literature, without direct measurements of SiGe HBTs used in the LNA chip. As a result, the relative contributions of parameters on the circuit metrics were compared, identifying dominant parameters for degradation modeling. For the TID effects on input matching (S11) and NF, the base resistance (RB) and the base-to-emitter capacitance (Cπ) of the input transistor were mostly responsible, whereas the transconductances (gm) played a key role in the output matching (S22) and gain (S21). To validate the proposed approach, it has been applied to a different LNA in the literature and the modeling results predicted the TID-induced degradations within reasonable ranges.

show abstract

Section: Lna Schematic and Device Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Simple Modeling and Analysis of Total Ionizing Dose Effects on Radio-Frequency Low-Noise Amplifiers

Kim,

Ryu,

Lee

et al. 2024

Electronics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor (SiGe HBT) has been widely used in microelectronics [1,2] due to its excellent performance at high frequencies and innovation in bandgap engineering [3]. SiGe HBT is of low cost, high yield, and large-scale integration [3][4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation and analysis of inverse-mode operation of single event transient mechanisms on NPN-SiGe HBT

Adekoya,

Liu,

Wang

et al. 2024

Phys. Scr.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper presents single-event transient (SET) mechanisms on a 3D NPN-SiGe HBT structure using Silvaco TCAD simulations under three conditions. The three conditions were the linear energy transfer (LET), striking angle, and bias voltage. A three-dimensional (3D) structure of the NPN-SiGe HBT was built on the DevEdit simulator and simulated on Deckbuild using device and radiation effect simulations. The length, breadth, and height of the structure were; 6.0 µm, 4.55 µm, and 2.5 µm, with doping concentrations of cm3 and cm3. The results obtained show that the TCAD simulation on the three conditions significantly influences the trends of heavy ion transient current and collected charge. The results reveal that the increased collected charge and wider pulse width result from the bipolar amplification effect. The drift and diffusion mechanisms also influence the increase in the emitter current as the ion loses energy along the trajectory path.

show abstract

Simulation and analysis of the single event transient characteristics of SiGe HBT at low-temperature environment

Adekoya,

Liu,

Wang

et al. 2024

J. Inst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study investigates the temperature dependence of single event transient (SET) effects in silicon germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs). Using Silvaco TCAD simulations, we analyze the influence of linear energy transfer (LET), emitter bias voltage, and striking angle across a temperature range from 100 K to 300 K. The results reveal that temperature significantly affects emitter pulse current and charge collection induced by heavy ions. Higher temperatures increase charge collection, while lower temperatures correspond to higher emitter current and shorter pulse width. The study also observes an increase in bandgap energy (from 1.12 eV to 1.16 eV) and electrostatic potential (from 1.19 V to 1.25 V) with decreasing temperature. The study highlights the crucial role of temperature in SiGe HBT performance under radiation threats and emphasizes drift and diffusion mechanisms as dominant for charge collection.

show abstract

Experimental investigation on the degradation of SiGe LNAs under different bias conditions induced by 3 MeV proton irradiation

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Simple Modeling and Analysis of Total Ionizing Dose Effects on Radio-Frequency Low-Noise Amplifiers

Simple Modeling and Analysis of Total Ionizing Dose Effects on Radio-Frequency Low-Noise Amplifiers

Simulation and analysis of inverse-mode operation of single event transient mechanisms on NPN-SiGe HBT

Simulation and analysis of the single event transient characteristics of SiGe HBT at low-temperature environment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About