Model Parameter Extraction for Very Advanced Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors

High-performance applications place very demanding performance requirements on the transistor building blocks. With strongly increased device and circuit complexity as well as manufacturing cost and fabrication time, the importance of semiconductor device modeling has grown rapidly in order to enable circuit design and optimization. Sophisticated compact models are capable of capturing all relevant physical effects occurring in very advanced high-speed Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors (SiGe HBTs). However, the usefulness of a compact model for practical industry applications also depends on its model parameters. In this thesis the most widely used methods for extracting the external series resistances of the emitter, base and collector are reviewed and applied to SiGe HBTs of different technologies and generations. Accuracy and application limits of the extraction methods are evaluated including equipment requirements and extraction effort. A complete scalable parameter extraction is performed based on experimental data of two state-of-the-art high-speed SiGe HBT process technologies. The resulting models are highly accurate w.r.t. DC and small-signal, as well as large-signal characteristics.