ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews Silicon–Germanium Bicomplementary Metal–Oxide Semiconductor (SiGe BiCMOS) technology and its most significant applications. It provides a basic understanding of how SiGe devices achieve a performance advantage over traditional bipolar and CMOS devices. The chapter also reviews historical application drivers for SiGe technology and project a roadmap for SiGe applications well. It discusses radio-frequency (RF) performance metrics for SiGe heterostructure bipolar transistor devices and also discusses how the devices can be optimized to maximize these performance metrics. The chapter analyses some of the components built around SiGe devices that are part of modern SiGe BiCMOS technologies and make them suitable for advanced RF product design. Many cell phones, wireless local area network devices, global positioning system receivers, and digital TV tuners employ some SiGe BiCMOS circuitry for either RF receive or transmit functions because of performance, power consumption, and noise advantages.
