Bipolar transistors with hump regions
View Patent ↗By providing a novel bipolar device design implementation, a standard CMOS process can be used unchanged to fabricate useful bipolar transistors and other bipolar devices having adjustable properties by partially blocking the P or N well doping used for the transistor base. This provides a hump-shaped base region with an adjustable base width, thereby achieving, for example, higher gain than can be obtained with the unmodified CMOS process alone. By further partially blocking the source/drain doping step used to form the emitter of the bipolar transistor, the emitter shape and effective base width can be further varied to provide additional control over the bipolar device properties. The embodiments thus include prescribed modifications to the masks associated with the bipolar device that are configured to obtain desired device properties. The CMOS process steps and flow are otherwise unaltered and no additional process steps are required.
1. A bipolar device, comprising:
a plurality of emitter regions proximate a first surface of the device;
a base region lying below the plurality of emitter regions; and
a collector region lying below the base region, wherein a collector-base boundary has an undulating profile with one or more humps, wherein the plurality of emitter regions are separated at the first surface by one or more portions of the base region, and wherein each of the one or more humps is vertically aligned with a different portion of the base region separating the plurality of emitter regions.
2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the bipolar device is formed using a MOS process to create the undulating collector-base boundary by adding first partially blocking mask portions during formation of the base region of the device.
3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the bipolar device is further formed by adding second partially blocking mask portions during formation of the plurality of emitter regions of the device.
4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the bipolar device is further formed by adding third partially blocking mask portions during formation of the collector region of the device.
5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more humps are located between lateral boundaries of the base region.
6. The device of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more hump regions has a flat top.
7. The device of claim 1 , wherein each of the one or more hump regions extend to the first surface, resulting in a discontinuous base region profile.
8. A bipolar semiconductor device comprising:
a semiconductor substrate having a first surface;
a base region having an undulating lower boundary at least partially defined by two laterally-spaced hump regions each having a rounded top;
an emitter region in the base region proximate the first surface, wherein the emitter region is adapted to function in cooperation with the two laterally-spaced hump regions; and
a collector region underlying the base region.
9. The device of claim 8 , further comprising:
one or more first conductivity type contact regions in the base region proximate the first surface.
10. The device of claim 8 , wherein the emitter region comprises a plurality of emitter regions separated at the first surface by portions of the base region, wherein each of the two laterally-spaced hump regions is vertically aligned with one of the portions of the base region.
11. The device of claim 8 , wherein the emitter region comprises a single emitter region that extends over each of the two laterally-spaced hump regions.
12. The device of claim 8 , wherein the two laterally-spaced hump regions are located between lateral boundaries of the base region.