Antimonide-based compound semiconductors for electronic devices: A review

Several research groups have been actively pursuing antimonide-based electronic devices in recent years. The advantage of narrowbandgap Sb-based devices over conventional GaAsor InP-based devices is the attainment of high-frequency operation with much lower power consumption. This paper will review the progress on three antimonide-based electronic devices: high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs), and heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). Progress on the HEMT includes the demonstration of Kaand W-band low-noise amplifier circuits that operate at less than one-third the power of similar InP-based circuits. The RTDs exhibit excellent figures of merit but, like their InPand GaAs-based counterparts, are waiting for a viable commercial application. Several approaches are being investigated for HBTs, with circuits reported using InAs and InGaAs bases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. PACS: 81.05.Ea; 81.15.Hi; 85.30.Pq; 85.30.Tv; 73.61.Ey; 73.63.Hs