Kyounghoon Yang

Numerical modeling of abrupt heterojunctions using a thermionic-field emission boundary condition

We present a numerical model in which the thermionic and tunneling mechanisms across an abrupt heterojunction interface are taken into account on the basis of the one dimensional drift-diffusion formulation. We use an expression of thermionic-field emission current formulated based on the WKB approximation as a boundary condition at the abrupt heterointerface which eventually limits the current transport over the barrier while maintaining the current continuity. The I-V characteristics of three types of GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunctions are analyzed by varying device dimension, doping density, and temperature and compared with those obtained by the thermionic emission model to illustrate the significance of both tunneling and thermionic emission mechanisms. We demonstrate that the role of tunneling in the overall current transport is very important in these abrupt heterojunctions especially at high doping densities and low temperatures. In the case of an MBE-grown AlGaAs triangular heterojunction barrier, the temperature-dependent I-V characteristics are measured and compared with the theoretical results. Good agreement is obtained when the tunneling process is taken into account by employing the thermionic-field emission boundary condition presented here.

Electric field mapping system using an optical-fiber-based electrooptic probe

A microwave electric-field mapping system based on electrooptic sampling has been developed using micromachined GaAs crystals mounted on gradient index lenses and single-mode optical fibers. The probes are able to detect three orthogonal polarizations of electric fields and, due to the flexibility and size of the optical fiber, can be positioned not only from the extreme near-field to the far-field regions of microwave and millimeter-wave structures, but also inside of enclosures such as waveguides and packages.

Design, modeling, and characterization of monolithically integrated InP-based (1.55 /spl mu/m) high-speed (24 Gb/s) p-i-n/HBT front-end photoreceivers

High-speed, long-wavelength InAlAs/InGaAs OEIC photoreceivers based on a p-i-n/HBT shared layer integration scheme have been designed, fabricated and characterized. The p-i-n photodiodes, formed with the 6000 /spl Aring/-thick InGaAs precollector layer of the HBT as the absorbing layer, exhibited a responsivity of /spl sim/0.4 A/W and a -3 dB optical bandwidth larger than 20 GHz at /spl lambda/=1.55 /spl mu/m. The fabricated three-stage transimpedance amplifier with a feedback resistor of 550 /spl Omega/ demonstrated a transimpedance gain of 46 dB/spl Omega/ and a -3 dB bandwidth of 20 GHz. The monolithically integrated photoreceiver with a 83 /spl mu/m p-i-n photodiode consumed a small dc power of 35 mW and demonstrated a measured -3 dB optical bandwidth of 19.5 GHz, which is the highest reported to date for an InAlAs/InGaAs integrated front-end photoreceiver. The OEIC photoreceiver also has a measured input optical dynamic range of 20 dB. The performance of individual devices and integrated circuits was also investigated through detailed CAD-based analysis and characterization. Transient simulations, based on a HSPICE circuit model and previous measurements of eye diagrams for a NRZ 2/sup 31/-1 pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS), show that the OEIC photoreceiver is capable of operation up to 24 Gb/s.

High-efficiency class-A power amplifiers with a dual-bias-control scheme

A new scheme for power amplifiers is proposed, which can provide both high efficiency and linearity. The proposed amplifier operates in a virtual class-A mode under dual-bias control to maximize the power-added efficiency along with its inherent class-A linearity. The dynamic dual-bias control involves controlling both bias current and voltage of the amplifier with a varying envelope of input RF signals. The efficiency of the proposed amplifier is theoretically evaluated and compared with that of other conventional amplifier schemes. Based on theoretical analyses, several promising schemes for dual analog and digital bias control are proposed and discussed.

Electro-optic field mapping system utilizing external gallium arsenide probes

External electro-optic probes fabricated from two different crystal orientations of GaAs have been implemented in an electro-optic sampling system that is capable of mapping three independent orthogonal components of free-space electric fields. The results obtained for the radiated field from a microstrip patch antenna by the GaAs probes are compared with results on the same antenna obtained using bismuth silicate and lithium tantalate probes. An 8 μm spatial resolution has also been demonstrated for the electro-optic field-mapping system, and the capability for the system to measure field patterns at frequencies up to 100 GHz has been shown.

In Vivo Silicon-Based Flexible Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Monolithically Encapsulated with Biocompatible Liquid Crystal Polymers

Biointegrated electronics have been investigated for various healthcare applications which can introduce biomedical systems into the human body. Silicon-based semiconductors perform significant roles of nerve stimulation, signal analysis, and wireless communication in implantable electronics. However, the current large-scale integration (LSI) chips have limitations in in vivo devices due to their rigid and bulky properties. This paper describes in vivo ultrathin silicon-based liquid crystal polymer (LCP) monolithically encapsulated flexible radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) for medical wireless communication. The mechanical stability of the LCP encapsulation is supported by finite element analysis simulation. In vivo electrical reliability and bioaffinity of the LCP monoencapsulated RFIC devices are confirmed in rats. In vitro accelerated soak tests are performed with Arrhenius method to estimate the lifetime of LCP monoencapsulated RFICs in a live body. The work could provide an approach to flexible LSI in biointegrated electronics such as an artificial retina and wireless body sensor networks.

Theoretical and experimental DC characterization of InGaAs-based abrupt emitter HBT's

The DC characteristics of InP-InGaAs and InAlAs-InGaAs HBTs with abrupt emitter-base junctions are studied using a thermionic-field emission boundary-condition model. The model incorporates tunneling and thermionic emission into a one-dimensional drift-diffusion numerical scheme and accounts for breakdown and bulk recombination mechanisms. The effects of abrupt heterojunction transport and electrical junction displacement on the current gain h/sub FE/ and on the turn-on voltage are investigated. The simulations indicate that the spacer layer design has a profound effect on the DC behavior of these devices. A detailed performance comparison of different emitter structures indicates that InP-emitter HBTs show a more uniform h/sub FE/ than InAlAs-emitter HBTs especially at low current densities. Experimental data from a fabricated InAlAs-InGaAs abrupt emitter single HBT was compared to the theoretical predictions of the model. The analysis reveals that several injection and recombination mechanisms are responsible for the emitter-base forward characteristics. In the collector, the exact velocity-field profile and an anomalous multiplication factor are responsible for kinks in the output common-emitter characteristics and for soft breakdown of the collector-base junction. >

Numerical study on the injection performance of AlGaAs/GaAs abrupt emitter heterojunction bipolar transistors

The injection performance of abrupt emitter HBTs and related effects on the device characteristics are studied by taking an Npn Al/sub 0.25/Ga/sub 0.75/As/GaAs/GaAs HBT as an example. In order to take into account the coupled transport phenomena of drift-diffusion and tunneling-emission processes across the abrupt heterojunction in a single coupled formulation, a numerical technique based on the boundary condition approach is employed. Compared to previous numerical investigations relying on either a drift-diffusion or a tunneling-emission scheme, more complete and accurate characterization of abrupt emitter HBTs has been achieved in this study. It is demonstrated that the presence of abrupt discontinuities of the conduction and valence bands at the emitter-base junction brings several different features to the injection efficiency and recombination characteristics of abrupt emitter HBTs compared to graded emitter HBTs. Based on investigations of the emitter doping effects on the current drive capability and device gain, an optimum emitter doping density is determined for a given structure. When the emitter-base p-n junction of the abrupt emitter HBT is slightly displaced with respect to the heterojunction, significant changes in the electrical characteristics are observed. A small displacement of the p-n junction into the narrow bandgap semiconductor is found to be very attractive for the performance optimization of abrupt emitter HBTs. >

16-GHz bandwidth InAlAs-InGaAs monolithically integrated p-i-n/HBT photoreceiver

A monolithically integrated p-i-n transimpedance-amplifier photoreceiver based on an InAlAs-InGaAs HBT structure lattice-matched to InP has been designed, fabricated, and characterized. The p-i-n photodiode is implemented using the InGaAs base and collector layers of the HBT. A three-stage amplifier with a feedback resistance of 550 /spl Omega/ demonstrated a transimpedance gain of 46 dB/spl Omega/ and a bandwidth of 20 GHz, corresponding to a transimpedance-bandwidth product of 4 THz/spl Omega/. The measured -3 dB bandwidth of the integrated photoreceiver is 16 GHz, which is the highest reported to date for an InAlAs-InGaAs p-i-n/HBT monolithically integrated photoreceiver and is sufficient for 20-Gb/s operation.<<ETX>>

A Novel High-Speed Multiplexing IC Based on Resonant Tunneling Diodes

A new multiplexing IC based on the resonant tunneling diode (RTD) is proposed. The unique negative differential resistance characteristics arising from quantum effects of the RTD enable us to develop a new functional low-power digital circuit. The proposed multiplexing IC consists of two current-mode-logic monostable-bistable transition logic elements (CML-MOBILEs) based on the RTD and a low-power selector circuit block. The proposed circuit has been fabricated by using an InP RTD/ heterojunction bipolar transistor monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology. The multiplexing operation of the fabricated quantum effect IC has been confirmed up to 45 Gb/s for the first time as a monolithic technology based on the quantum effect devices. The dc power consumption is only 23 mW, which is found to be one-fourth of the current state-of-the-art conventional transistor-based multiplexing IC.