ABSTRACT
The field of Silicon (Si)-based heterostructures solidly rests on the shoulders of materials scientists and crystal growers, the purveyors of the semiconductor black arts associated with the deposition of pristine films of nanoscale dimensionality onto enormous Si wafers with near infinite precision. Device engineers have long recognized the benefits of marrying the many virtues of Si as a host material for manufacturing electronic devices, with the bandgap engineering principles routinely practiced in the III–V system. The first report of the effects of ionizing radiation on advanced SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT) was made in 1995. Due to natural tolerance of epitaxial-base bipolar structures to conventional radiation-induced damage mechanisms without any additional radiation-hardening process changes, SiGe HBTs are potentially very important for space-based and planetary communication systems applications, spawning an important new sub-discipline for SiGe technology.
