[paper] Self-Heating Effects in 55-nm SiGe HBTs

Abdelaaziz Boulgheb1, Billel Smaani2, Taha Housseyn Nouibat1

Physics-Based Electro-Thermal Modeling and Analysis 

of Self-Heating Effects in 55-nm SiGe HBTs

physica status solidi (a), 2026; 223:e70563 

https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.70563

1. USTHB, Bab Ezzouar, Algeria 

2. University of Mila, Mila, Algeria

Abstract: This work investigates spatially resolved electrothermal behavior in scaled SiGe HBTs under self-heating conditions, emphasizing its impact on temperature distribution and RF performance. Unlike conventional lumped thermal resistance approaches assum- ing uniform temperature rise, the present analysis resolves the internal temperature field to capture nonuniform heat propagation effects. A physics-based electrothermal framework combining drift–diffusion transport, temperature-dependent semiconductor properties, and heat conduction equations is used to study hotspot formation and thermal confinement in a 55 nm SiGe HBT structure. Three operating conditions are considered: nominal operation at 300 K, self-heating at 300 K ambient temperature, and elevated ambient temperature of 320 K. The results reveal localized hotspot formation near the base–collector junction due to current crowding and geometrical confinement, leading to RF performance degradation. The cutoff frequency decreases from 320 to 285 GHz, while the maximum oscillation frequency reduces from 486 to 458.5 GHz. The current gain decreases from 2000 to 1500, and the maximum junction temperature reaches 417 K under the highest thermal stress condition. These findings highlight the importance of spatial thermal effects in governing RF limitations of SiGe HBTs and provide insight into the coupling between heat propagation and electrical performance in BiCMOS technologies.

FIG: Device structure of 55 nm SiGe HBT simulated with multiphysics TCAD: (a) log of electron and hole concentration highlighting emitter/base/SIC pedestal (b) TEM cross section of a fabricated BiCMOS 55nm HBT. Impact of self-heating on high-frequency performance of the 55-nm SiGe HBT under three thermal conditions: (c) parasitic delay parasitic (d) forward transit time τF , (e) cutoff frequency fT, and (f) maximum oscillation frequency fmax.

[paper] Statistical model of the NBTI-induced ΔVth, ΔSS, and Δgm degradations in advanced pFinFETs

Statistical model of the NBTI induced threshold voltage, subthreshold swing, and transconductance degradations in advanced pFinFETs
J. Franco, B. Kaczer, S. Mukhopadhyay, P. Duhan, P. Weckx, Ph.J. Roussel, T. Chiarella, L.-Å. Ragnarsson, L. Trojman, N. Horiguchi, A. Spessot, D. Linten, A. Mocuta
2016 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), San Francisco, CA, USA, 2016, pp. 15.3.1-15.3.4.
DOI: 10.1109/IEDM.2016.7838422

Abstract

We study the stochastic NBTI degradation of pFinFETs, in terms of ΔVth, ΔSS, and Δgm. We extend our Defect-Centric model to describe also the SS distribution in a population of devices of any area, at any stage of product aging. A large fraction of nanoscale devices is found to show a peak g m improvement after stress. We explain this effect in terms of the interaction of individual defects with the percolative channel conduction, and we propose a statistical description of g m aging. Our Vth, SS, and gm aging models are pluggable into reliability-enabled compact models to estimate design margins for a wide variety of circuits. Selected nanoscale device characteristics resulting from 3 percolation paths, generated with the EKV model [read more...]