Douglas P. Verret

Two-dimensional effects in the bipolar polysilicon self-aligned transistor

There has been a great deal of interest recently in the performance enhancements afforded by self-aligned silicon transistors. Concomitantly, it has been observed that the current gain and collector drive capability of these devices sometimes exhibit a strong dependence an the geometrical size and shape of the emitter, In this study, it has been shown that this two-dimensional effect is explicable in terms of a parasitic p-n diode in parallel with the emitter-base junction. An accurate model has been developed to predict the geometry-dependent current gain under low to moderate bias. It is further shown how the model can be extended to the high-bias regime. Lastly, it is shown, by means of an emitter-base debiasing model, that the geometry of the emitter contact has a more significant effect on the emitter-base debiasing than does the intrinsic base sheet resistance itself.

Change in Submission Procedure

HE TRANSACTIONS has finally discovered the World Wide Web. We knew it was there all along, but we politely tolerated its presence sort of the way an adult tolerates a cute but unruly child. Now, the child is grown, and our staid journal, in keeping with its proud tradition of nurturing innovation, welcomes the new kid into the enterprise. This is our way of saying, by means of simile, that the digital age has arrived at the TRANSACTIONS. Beginning on April 5 of this year, prospective authors will begin submitting their manuscripts via ScholarOne, which is formerly known as Manuscript Central. ScholarOne Manuscripts is a web-based submission and peer review workflow that offers authors, editors, and reviewers with Internet access an easy streamlined means for developing, submitting, reviewing, and revising manuscripts. The potential benefits of a web-based system I think are obvious. For authors, it offers a shorter “sub-to-pub” time. For editors and staff, it reduces administrative overhead. For the Editor-in-Chief, it provides for easier tracking of manuscripts through the editorial process and a tool for gathering and analyzing pertinent trends and statistics. For reviewers, it