Temperature dependence of current gain of GaInP/GaAs heterojunction and heterostructure-emitter bipolar transistors

The temperature effect on current gain is presented for GaInP/GaAs heterojunction and heterostructure-emitter bipolar transistors (HBTs and HEBTs). Experimental results showed that the current gain of the HEBT increases with the increase of temperature in the temperature range of 25-125/spl deg/C and decreases slightly at temperatures above 150/spl deg/C. The smaller the collector current, the larger is the positive differential temperature coefficient. At high current levels, the current gain dependence on temperature is significantly reduced. On the other hand, a large negative coefficient is observed in the HBT in all current range. This finding indicates that the HEBT is a better candidate than the HBT for power devices.