Abstract

The Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor (HBT) features some characteristics that make it a very promising device in the telecom field. For these applications, the reliability is a key issue. The aim of the present paper is to summarise the most relevant reliability concerns, from whose the HBT suffers, as the stability of the ohmic contact, the presence of defects, and the stability of the base dopant. Since in the last years the Si/SiGe HBT has emerged as a strong competitor against the III-V HBT, a paragraph has been devoted to summarise the reliability concerns of the Si/SiGe HBT.