STRIPE-a high-speed VLSI bipolar technology featuring self-aligned single-poly base and submicron emitter contacts

Experimental results are presented for a high-performance silicon bipolar transistor structure utilizing a single layer of polysilicon for both the base and emitter contacts. This structure, called STRIPE (self-aligned trench-isolated polysilicon electrodes), provides a 2.0-μm emitter/base polysilicon contact separation. A 0.4-μm emitter width is achieved with conventional 0.8-μm optical lithography. These dimensions are comparable to those achievable with double-poly structures. Using the STRIPE structure, transistors have been fabricated with cutoff frequency as high as 33.8 GHz