RF Applications Drive Semiconductor Process Technology Choices

摘要

In recent years, consumers' appetite for cellular phones and other wireless products has driven an enormous market for semiconductors and other electronic and mechanical components. All of these wireless products rely on battery technology to provide power, and on low power semiconductors to maximize battery life. These commercial opportunities and technical requirements ultimately create the motivation to develop semiconductor processes and manufacture products that can meet such challenging technical demands. This article will take a look at three specific semiconductor processes providing an overview of each. Additionally, a comparison of three dual band LNA products designed using these different process technologies will be presented. Suggestions will be made on which technology is best suited for some of the key functions within a cellular phone or other wireless system. The three technologies that will be discussed are gallium arsenide (GaAs) hetero-junction bipolar transistor (HBT); silicon germanium (SiGe) bipolar/complementary metal oxide semiconductor (BiCMOS); and silicon BiCMOS. The basic transistor and passive component attributes will be provided, allowing the reader to compare these process technologies based on their own specific circuit performance requirements. The majority of data presented will be based on IBM's 4S BiCMOS process, IBM's 5HP SiGe BiCMOS process and RF Micro Devices' GaAs HBT process.