Recent advances in Si/SiGe HBT research

Recent developments and advances in high speed silicon germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor (Si/SiGe HBT) research are reviewed. Special emphasis is laid on the Si/SiGe HBT activities in Germany. The paper describes the basic design of the Si/SiGe HBT and its advantages over conventional Si BJTs. A survey on the high frequency properties of Si/SiGe HBTs is given, outstanding experimental results are highlighted, and possible applications of these transistors are discussed. Recent results from the authors laboratory concerning the simulation and design of Si/SiGe HBTs are presented.