Correlation between the burn-in effect and the extrinsic base surface quality in C-doped GaInP/GaAs HBTs

The present work compares two sets of carbon doped GaInP/GaAs HBTs. The only difference between the device sets resides in the technology employed to passivate the extrinsic base surface region. The results demonstrate that the burn-in effect is a surface related phenomenon and that the ledge passivation technology is a very promising method to improve device reliability.