Current Gain Rolloff in Graded-Base SiGe Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors

We report the experimental observation of a novel effect in SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) with graded bases which results in a significant emitter-base bias dependence of the current gain. The nonideal collector current is caused by the interaction of the bias dependence of the emitter-base space-charge region width and the exponential dependence of the collector current on the germanium concentration at the edge of the space-charge region. The resulting current gain rolloff must be taken into account for accurate modeling of bipolar transistors with bandgap grading in the base. © 1993 IEEE