Very-High-Speed Si and SiGe Bipolar ICs

The state-of-the-art for Si based bipolar ICs with respect to maximum operating speed is presented for both the production and laboratory state. Technologies, circuit principles, and design methods successfully used for the development of 10 to 50 Gb/s circuits are discussed. Substantial speed improvements are expected within the next couple of years, assuming the performance potential of SiGe HBTs can be exhausted.