12-ps ECL using low-base-resistance Si bipolar transistor by self-aligned metal/IDP technology

A self-aligned metal/IDP (SMI) technology is proposed to reduce the external base resistance and to enable fabrication of high-speed bipolar transistors. This SMI technology produces a self-aligned base electrode of stacked layers of metal and in situ-doped poly-Si (LDP) with a small thermal budget by selective tungsten CVD. It provides the low base resistance and a shallow link base for the small-collector capacitance and the high-cutoff frequency. The base resistance is reduced to a half that in a transistor having a conventional poly-Si base electrode. A maximum oscillation frequency of 81 GHz and a 12.2-ps gate delay time in an ECL ring oscillator at a voltage swing of 250 mV were achieved by using the SMI technology even with an ion-implanted base.