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Calculation of the maximum frequency of oscillation for microwave heterojunction bipolar transistors

University of British Columbia

An investigation into various methods of calculation of the high frequency performance parameter f[formula omitted] for microwave heterojunction bipolar transistors is presented. Two high frequency representations of the device are developed: equivalent circuits consisting entirely of lumped circuit elements, and a two-port network based on drift-diffusion equations. Proper account is taken in these representations of the phase delay associated with carrier transit time through the base and base-collector space charge region. Also included are the charging time effects due to the various parasitic circuit elements associated with actual devices. A single-sided isolated structure is used in simulations and it is found that both representations yield remarkably similar characteristics for the behavior of unilateral gain U with frequency. For devices in which the dominant factors limiting high frequency performance are the parasitic resistances and capacitances, it is found that U rolls off at 6 dB/octave through the region where U = 1 and the values predicted for f[formula omitted] via these two methods, as well as via the widely-used analytical expression involving f[formula omitted] and (R[formula omitted]C[formula omitted])[formula omitted], are in agreement. However, when the periods of the oscillations are on the order of the carrier transit times, and the device parasitics are sufficiently low so as to not limit performance, resonance effects occur in U in the region where U = 1 and the prediction of f[formula omitted] obtained via the two equivalent circuit approaches deviates markedly from the predictions of the analytical expression.

Text

2010-10-28

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29630

Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of British Columbia

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