Solid-State Electronics 45 (2001) 18671868

Editorial

Silicongermanium materials and devices

On the eve of the Golden Jubilee of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, an international conference on communications, computers and devices (ICCCD-2000) was organized by the Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering during December 146, 2000. A one-day short course entitled ``SiGe Microwave ICs for Wireless Communications Systems'' was conducted by Professor H. Schumacher of the University of Ulm, Germany with a comprehensive overview of SiGe-HBT device physics and rf/microwave applications. Even though the ICCCD2000 conference was dominated by silicon-based devices, of the conference's 28 sessions, ve were specically devoted to SiGe-based papers. This special issue on ``Silicongermanium Materials and Devices'' is based on some of the papers presented in ICCCD-2000. The stability of epitaxially grown SiGe layers is a major concern as one cannot exceed the critical layer thickness for a given Ge mole fraction. Exceeding this limit leads to strain relaxation with the formation of defects which can result in an unstable or metastable lm and ultimately render the device useless. In the rst paper, Yousif et al. investigate the relaxation parameters and defect propagation in dierent thin relaxed buer layers having pure Ge top. The introduction of C in group IV heterostructures increases the design freedom, as C can reduce the compressive strain in the alloy layers, or even introduce a tensile strain. The strain reduction allows for much thicker layers without exceeding the critical thickness. Mukherjee and Venkataraman characterize strain in SiGe and SiGeC layers grown on Si by RTCVD exploiting the phenomenon of strain-induced birefringence and show that the incorporation of carbon in SiGe layers reduces strain and increases the critical thickness. In a standard SiGe-HBT, the outdiusion of boron from the SiGe base into the Si collector causes conduction band barriers to appear at the base-collector junction. Diusion over short distances in the SiGe-HBTs can produce radical changes in the device performance. Characterization of the dopant diusion process in SiGe is needed to accurately control dopant movement during processing, and thus realize the advantages inherent in heterojunction device design. Rajendran and Schoenmaker discuss on the issue of boron diusion in compressively strained Si1x Gex epitaxial layers with graded Ge proles grown by rapid pressure chemical vapor deposition. Since the strain in pseudomorphic SiGe layers on Si and resulting critical thickness limit the amount of integration for such structures, the use of carbon can help overcome the critical thickness issue. The use of SiGeC makes possible transistors with narrower, more heavily doped bases, and high performance from the current state-of-the-art SiGeHBTs. In their paper, Biswas and Basu compare the performances of SiGe- and SiGeC-HBTs with the help of simulation and predict that the gure of merit of the HBT is enhanced with C incorporation. Low frequency noise is an important parameter of SiGe-HBTs for analog applications, particularly for mixer and signal generation circuits. Regis et al. present an overview of SiGe technologies and their corresponding noise properties both in the high frequency and low frequency range and demonstrate that SiGe-HBTs exhibit a very good high frequency noise performances. For SiGe-channel MOSFETs, the increased separation between channel and gate oxide is expected to lead to a signicant reduction in the low frequency noise as compared to conventional Si MOSFETs. Concerning the FET devices, the authors conclude that there is still a provision for progress in term of noise to compete with IIIV devices specically at the gate level to avoid the gate leakage. To be competitive, all the aspects of SiGe-HBT fabrication sequence should be compatible with the CMOS portion of the BiCMOS process. SiGe-HBTs typically use a graded Ge prole in the base, in which a 12% Ge content is used at the emitter-base junction and increased to 810% at the base-collector junction. In their paper, van den Oever and his coworkers discuss the design issues related to base dopant activation and mesa isolation in collector-up SiGe-HBTs.
0038-1101/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 3 8 - 1 1 0 1 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 2 2 4 - 6

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Editorial

Present-day SiGe-HBT research is driven by wireless application requirements where both low voltage operation, as well as high power added eciency (PAE) are required. In their paper, Senapati and Maiti examine the rf amplier using SiGe-HBTs for mobile communications systems in the 12 GHz region and discuss the potential advantages of SiGe-HBTs. In the next paper, Soenmez et al. report on the results of an oscillator incorporating active inductance and active capacitance concepts and a commercially available SiGe-HBT. The benets of photodetector technology would be greatly enhanced if it could be coupled with a method of producing light emission from SiGe materials. In their paper, Myrberg et al. use high resolution X-ray diraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) to study the structural and optical properties of dierent Si/Si1x Gex quantum well (QW) structures by subjecting them to dierent post-processing annealing temperatures. In the next paper, Konle and his coworkers investigate the inuence of nano-scaled lateral Si/SiGe layers and three-dimensional Ge quantum dots on the performance of silicon-based infrared detectors (210 lm) and solar cells for space applications. Eects of incorporation of Er in strained Si/Si0:87 Ge0:13 /Si multiple quantum well structures by ion implantation have been reported by Huda and Peaker. Wireless applications continue to drive FET improvements, particularly in the area of power added eciency and low voltage operation, both of which have a direct impact on extending battery lifetime. Yousif et al. present a summary of the most important critical issues in Si/Si1x Gex p-type and n-type heterostructure eld-eect transistors. Achievements and problems associated with channel engineering and the use of alternative gate electrodes and high-k dielectric materials are also addressed. The authors conclude that more research is needed and a more systematic study for the parameters of the alloy and deformation potentials is indispensable. In addition, virtual substrate morphology and surface properties for the n-channel devices need to be improved. In the next paper, Chen et al. describe the application of bandgap engineering in a vertical heterostructure p-MOSFET in view of suppressing the short channel eects, oating body eect, and improving the drive current. High quality dielectric formation on heterolayers is a critical issue at the present time. In their papers, Tan et al. and Ray et al. present the electrical properties of nitrided oxides grown using NO/N2 O on strained SiGe and partially straincompensated SiGeC lms. Natarajan et al. present the structural and electrical properties of oxides on rf sputtered polycrystalline SiGe thin lms. Polycrystalline Si (poly-Si) has been widely used as a structural layer for MEMs applications, but poly-Si requires a high processing temperature to achieve a low tensile stress and to activate dopants. Poly-SiGe is a very attractive alternative to poly-Si as it has the similar properties while it can be realized at a much lower temperature. Poly-SiGe thin lm transistors (TFTs) are also promising for use as high performance pixel and integrated driver transistors for active matrix liquid displays. Teh et al. examine the structural properties of rf sputter deposited amorphous SiGe lms and their conversion to poly-SiGe with annealing. In the last paper, Chen et al. present the low-frequency noise behavior of LPCVD grown poly-SiGe as a function of Ge content for possible applications in TFTs. Future SiGe and SiGeC technology oerings are expected to include enhancements to the FETs and the HBTs, and the addition and renement of active and passive components. The combination of SiGe-HBTs with advanced Si CMOS to form a SiGe BiCMOS technology represents a unique opportunity for creating very large scale integration application-specic ICs and Si-based RF system-on-a-chip solutions. If the papers are any indication, SiGe/SiGeC technology being compatible with standard Si BiCMOS, promises to become the technology in the years to come!

Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the tireless eorts of Professor F.M. Klaassen, Ex-Editor of Solid-State Electronics during the preparation of this Special Issue. I would also like to acknowledge the authors of the contributed papers for their excellent submissions and the Reviewers for their help in identifying the papers that were solicited for publication.
Chinmay K. Maiti Guest Editor Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering IIT Kharagpur Kharagpur 721302 India E-mail address: ckm@ece.iitkgp.ernet.in