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

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. Furthermore, 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.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
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  1. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Lockheed Martin Corporation, Littleton, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
OSTI Identifier:
1535766
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1375543
Grant/Contract Number:  
FG02-06ER46281; AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Applied
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 8; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2331-7019
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; Coulumb blockade; quantum information processing; transport phenomena; semiconductor compounds; transistors

Citation Formats

Davidović, D., Ying, H., Dark, J., Wier, B.  R., Ge, L., Lourenco, N.  E., Omprakash, A.  P., Mourigal, M., and Cressler, J.  D. Tunneling, Current Gain, and Transconductance in Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors Operating at Millikelvin Temperatures. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1103/physrevapplied.8.024015.
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Davidović, D., Ying, H., Dark, J., Wier, B.  R., Ge, L., Lourenco, N.  E., Omprakash, A.  P., Mourigal, M., & Cressler, J.  D. Tunneling, Current Gain, and Transconductance in Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors Operating at Millikelvin Temperatures. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.8.024015
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Davidović, D., Ying, H., Dark, J., Wier, B.  R., Ge, L., Lourenco, N.  E., Omprakash, A.  P., Mourigal, M., and Cressler, J.  D. Fri . "Tunneling, Current Gain, and Transconductance in Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors Operating at Millikelvin Temperatures". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.8.024015. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1535766.
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@article{osti_1535766,
title = {Tunneling, Current Gain, and Transconductance in Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors Operating at Millikelvin Temperatures},
author = {Davidović, D. and Ying, H. and Dark, J. and Wier, B.  R. and Ge, L. and Lourenco, N.  E. and Omprakash, A.  P. and Mourigal, M. and Cressler, J.  D.},
abstractNote = {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. Furthermore, 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.},
doi = {10.1103/physrevapplied.8.024015},
journal = {Physical Review Applied},
number = 2,
volume = 8,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Aug 18 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Fri Aug 18 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.8.024015
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    Works referencing / citing this record:

    Single-Shot Readout Performance of Two Heterojunction-Bipolar-Transistor Amplification Circuits at Millikelvin Temperatures
    journal, November 2019

    Increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of magnetic tunnel junctions by cryogenic preamplification
    journal, April 2019

    • Dark, J.; Nunn, G.; Cressler, J. D.
    • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 125, Issue 16
    • DOI: 10.1063/1.5059326
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