Title | An analysis of space-charge-region recombination in HBT's |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 1994 |
Authors | Searles, S., and D. L. Pulfrey |
Journal | Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on |
Volume | 41 |
Pagination | 476 -483 |
Date Published | apr. |
ISSN | 0018-9383 |
Keywords | AlGaAs-GaAs, aluminium compounds, Auger effect, Auger processes, collector current, current gain, electron-hole recombination, emitter-base space-charge-region, gallium arsenide, HBT, heterojunction bipolar transistors, ideality factor, III-V semiconductors, neutral-base current, quasi-Fermi level splitting, radiative processes, semiconductor device models, Shockley-Read-Hall processes, space charge, space-charge-region recombination, thermionic/tunnel current balancing, tunnelling |
Abstract | The importance of including recombination in the base side of the emitter-base space-charge-region (SCR) in the computation of the current gain in AlGaAs/GaAs HBT's is investigated. Recombination due to Shockley-Read-Hall, Auger and radiative processes is considered. The interaction of the base-side SCR recombination currents with the neutral-base current and the collector current, which occurs via their dependence on the quasi-Fermi level splitting ( Delta;Efn) at the base-emitter junction, is not found to be a significant factor in the computation of Delta;Efn. However, it is confirmed that the quasi-Fermi level splitting, as calculated from a balancing of the thermionic/tunnel current with the neutral base and collector currents, must subsequently be included in the computation of the base-side SCR currents if the current gain is not to be severely underestimated. A discussion of why the ideality factor is ap;1 for the base-side SCR currents is given. Finally, simple analytical expressions for Delta;E fn and the SCR recombination currents are presented and should prove useful for HBT device- and circuit-simulation purposes |
URL | http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/16.278498 |
DOI | 10.1109/16.278498 |