The authors have certainly identified a gap in the literature … Overall, the book is very informative and provides a strong foundation for work in this active research area.
-K. Alan Shore, Optics and Photonics News
The most significant feature of this work is that it combines three distinct topics - technology, device design and simulation, and applications - in a comprehensive way.
Readership
This book is intended for use by senior undergraduate or first-year graduate students in Applied Physics, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, and Materials Sciences, and as a reference for engineers and scientists involved in semiconductor device research and development for RF applications.
Since the first report of SiGe heterostructure bipolar transistors (HBTs) in 1987, there has been tremendous progress in SiGe research. The successful demonstrations of SiGe HBT technology, in both high-performance digital and analogue circuit applications, are the results of over 15 years of steady research progress from initial material preparations in 1984, through device demonstrations from 1987–1992 to large scale circuit fabrication in 1994 and commercial products in 1998.
With the development of the ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapour deposition (UHVCVD) system, which produces highly uniform SiGe heterostructures more rapidly than other methods, such as molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) or low-pressure CVD, only minor modifications to the process flow are required to incorporate the manufacture of SiGe HBTs into a conventional bipolar or complementary metal–oxide-semiconductor (BiCMOS) line. Indeed, SiGe HBTs integrated with CMOS (BiCMOS) circuits have been shown to be substantially cheaper than III–V technology. Qualified full-scale production devices (with cut-off frequencies in the 50–60 GHz range) and circuits using 200 mm wafers in a standard 0.5 μm CMOS line are now available.
