Hot electron transistors
AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation
InventorsJoseph P. Heremans, Dale L. Partin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In one embodiment a hot electron transistor uses lead telluride as the host crystal. The desired layers of increased band gap to provide the needed heterojunctions at the emitting and collecting junctions are realized either by substitution of europium and selenium in the host crystal or by superlattices of PbTe-CdTe. Variations described use either a tunneling barrier, graded barrier or camel diode barrier are used at the emitting junction. Other embodiments use a bismuth-antimony semiconductor alloy for one or more of the layers of the crystal.
Claims13
A hot electron transistor formed in a semiconductive body comprising a plurality of monocrystalline, lattice matched semiconductive layers that include at least one layer consisting essentially of Bi.sub.x Sb.sub.1-x where 0<or=x<or=0.35 for respectively providing a transistor base region, and additional layers for respectively providing transistor emitter and collector regions, a potential barrier between the emitter and base regions after an emitter/base bias is applied that is high enough on the emitter side and drops sharply on the base side to permit electrons crossing the barrier to develop sufficient kinetic energy to accelerate them through the base region without scattering electrons into upper valley energy levels in the base, effective to provide a transistor in which electrons are injected from the emitter region into the base region for collection by the collector region at ballistic velocities for substantially collision-free passage through the base region.
A hot electron transistor comprising in succession a layer of PbTe for serving as the emitter, a layer of PbEuSeTe for serving as an emitter tunnel barrier region, a layer of Bi.sub.x Sb.sub.1-x, where 0<or=x<or=0.35, for serving as the base, a graded layer of PbEuSeTe for serving as the collector barrier region, and a layer of Bi.sub.x Sb.sub.1-x, where 0<or=x<or=0.35, for serving as the collector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.