Nuclear microbeam studies of silicon–germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs)

SiGe HBTs are very attractive devices to be used in space communication applications. This technology combines the high speed of the III–V semiconductors with the well-established and easy manufacturing processes of silicon, which allows the manufacturing of RF, analog, and digital devices on the same wafer. In addition, SiGe HBTs were found to be extremely radiation hard in the context of total ionizing dose and displacement damage. However, it was shown through experiments and simulations that these devices are vulnerable to single event effects (SEEs). SEEs are changes in the normal operation of the device (its logical state, currents, transients, etc.) due to the induced currents in the electrodes by the movement of carriers created by the incident ions. We used four electrode (base, emitter, collector, and substrate) IBIC measurements at the Sandia Heavy Ion Nuclear Microprobe Facility. SiGe HBTs are usually designed using deep trench isolation (DTI) to minimize parasitic capacitances from the subcollector to the substrate (faster speed), as well as allow devices to be fabricated much closer together. It is an added bonus that the DTI does not let carriers from outside hits to diffuse into the junction and induce current. Our experiments and TCAD simulations showed that while the above goal was accomplished by this design, it increased the amount of induced charge for ion hits in the active area. Single event transients (SETs) were investigated in both standard and radiation hardened by design (RHBD) bandgap voltage reference (BGR) circuits.