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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. December 15, 2008—HRL researchers announced today at the IEEE's International Electron Device Meeting (IEDM) that they have successfully integrated silicon CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) with indium phosphide (InP) double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs)—a breakthrough that could lead to a revolutionary new generation of high-performance circuitry.
The milestone is the first in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) COmpound Semiconductor Materials On Silicon, or COSMOS, program. HRL was awarded an $18.2 million contract in 2007 to begin investigating innovative approaches to tightly integrating materials and devices from completely different material systems like InP and silicon and exploiting the advantages of both.
"Silicon-based components and devices have made significant advances in performance, but do not match the performance of the fastest compound semiconductor transistors available today," said Dr. Ken Elliott, Program Manager in HRL's Microelectronics Laboratory. "InP transistors are much faster than those made from silicon, but InP integrated circuits are only used for low-volume, niche applications because InP technology is less mature and supports much lower complexity than silicon.
However, the BiCMOS implementation of these two disparate technologies will result in mixed-signal circuits that have dramatically improved linearity, dynamic range and bandwidth, according to Elliot. The new HRL technology also offers outstanding overlay accuracy, solves thermal expansion and stress issues, and maximizes connectivity between CMOS and InP transistors. "No electrical degradation of the CMOS or InP HBT devices has been observed," he said.
In addition, the integration process is fully compatible with the device and interconnect scaling needed for future technology generations, with the added benefits of a less costly growth path and shorter time to market than potential alternative technologies.
The technology is also extendible to other materials and devices, expanding the potential development of silicon technology to encompass new functionality and enhanced performance. For example, HRL's COSMOS technology will enable advanced systems-on-a-chip and emerging technologies with a more rapid development cycle. This innovation will result in higher bandwidth and lower distortion signals for optical and RF communications.
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HRL Laboratories, LLC, Malibu, California (www.hrl.com) is a corporate research-and-development laboratory owned by The Boeing Company and General Motors specializing in research into sensors and materials, information and systems sciences, applied electromagnetics, and microelectronics. HRL provides custom research and development and performs additional R&D contract services for its LLC member companies, the U.S. government, and other commercial companies.
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