New progress in research on terahertz transistors in microelectronics

Infrared and b-high frequency characteristics of InP terahertz transistors Terahertz waves (T-ray, 0.1–10 THz) in public safety, non-destructive testing, radio astronomy, environmental monitoring, broadband communications, space exploration, biomedical, etc. The important application prospect, the development of high-performance terahertz core devices is a key link in the practical application of terahertz technology. Recently, the research team led by Liu Honggang, a researcher of Microwave Devices and Integrated Circuits Research Institute of the Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has made progress in the research of terahertz core devices.

Upgrading the operating frequency of integrated circuits to the terahertz frequency band is a hot topic in the terahertz technology field in the world, and the development of terahertz transistors is the key. Traditional silicon-based microelectronics generally use "reduced size" to increase the transistor's characteristic frequency. After the transistor fabrication technology reaches the nanometer scale, device performance improvement will be limited by a series of basic physical problems and process technology problems. It is difficult to further improve the frequency performance of the transistor. The terahertz core device research team of microelectronics designs a novel heterojunction bipolar transistor using a high-mobility InP-based material system. By intelligently utilizing the "type II" energy band structure, the electrons are transported by ballistic transport to the transistor. This greatly increased the operating frequency of the transistor and explored a new approach for breakthrough terahertz transistor technology.

The latest results show that the cut-off frequency (FT) of the InP terahertz transistor is higher than 0.6 THz, the maximum oscillation frequency (FMAX) exceeds 1 THz, and its Johnson Limit (FT'BVCEO) is more than 5 times higher than that of the silicon-based transistor.

The research results will promote the application of integrated circuit technology in terahertz signal transmission, reception and operation processing, and have been highly evaluated by international counterparts. Related papers have been published in the international journal IEEE Transaction on Electron Devices, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 576 (2011).