The present disclosure relates to semiconductor structures and, more particularly, to heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with a buried trap rich region and methods of manufacture. The structure includes: a trap rich isolation region embedded within the bulk substrate; and a heterojunction bipolar transistor above the trap rich isolation region, with its sub-collector region separated by the trap rich isolation region by a layer of the bulk substrate.

The present disclosure relates to semiconductor structures and, more particularly, to heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with a buried trap rich region and methods of manufacture. The structure includes: a trap rich isolation region embedded within the bulk substrate; and a heterojunction bipolar transistor above the trap rich isolation region, with its sub-collector region separated by the trap rich isolation region by a layer of the bulk substrate.

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device is provided, including: forming a first conductive type lightly doped region in the epitaxial layer; forming a first conductive type heavily doped region and a second conductive type heavily doped region in the epitaxial layer on the first conductive type lightly doped region, in which the neighboring first conductive type heavily doped regions are spaced apart by the second conductive type heavily doped region; disposing the mask on the second conductive type heavily doped region; disposing a spacer on a sidewall of the mask; doping a first conductive type dopant in the first conductive type lightly doped region to form an anti-breakdown region; removing the mask and forming a trench extending into the second conductive type heavily doped region, first conductive type lightly doped region and the epitaxial layer; and removing the spacer.

A power amplifier module includes a power amplifier including a GaAs bipolar transistor having a collector, a base abutting the collector, and an emitter, the collector having a doping concentration of at least about 310.sup.16 cm.sup.3 at a junction with the base, the collector also having at least a first grading in which doping concentration increases away from the base; and an RF transmission line driven by the power amplifier, the RF transmission line including a conductive layer and finish plating on the conductive layer, the finish plating including a gold layer, a palladium layer proximate the gold layer, and a diffusion barrier layer proximate the palladium layer, the diffusion barrier layer including nickel and having a thickness that is less than about the skin depth of nickel at 0.9 GHZ. Other embodiments of the module are provided along with related methods and components thereof.

Methods of according to the present disclosure can include: providing a substrate including: a first semiconductor region, a second semiconductor region, and a trench isolation (TI) laterally between the first and second semiconductor regions; forming a seed layer on the TI and the second semiconductor region of the substrate, leaving the first semiconductor region of the substrate exposed; forming an epitaxial layer on the substrate and the seed layer, wherein the epitaxial layer includes: a first semiconductor base material positioned above the first semiconductor region of the substrate, and an extrinsic base region positioned above the seed layer; forming an opening within the extrinsic base material and the seed layer to expose an upper surface of the second semiconductor region; and forming a second semiconductor base material in the opening.

One aspect of this disclosure is a power amplifier module that includes a power amplifier configured to provide a radio frequency signal at an output, an output matching network coupled to the output of the power amplifier and configured to provide impedance matching at a fundamental frequency of the radio frequency signal, and a harmonic termination circuit coupled to the output of the power amplifier. The power amplifier is included on a power amplifier die. The output matching network can include a first circuit element electrically connected to an output of the power amplifier by way of a pad on a top surface of a conductive trace, in which the top surface has an unplated portion between the pad the power amplifier die. The harmonic termination circuit can include a second circuit element. The first and second circuit elements can have separate electrical connections to the power amplifier die. Other embodiments of the module are provided along with related methods and components thereof.

This disclosure relates to methods of forming bipolar transistors, such as heterojunction bipolar transistors. The methods may include forming a sub-collector over a substrate, forming a first portion of a collector over the sub-collector and doping a second portion of the collector to form a doping spike. The method may further include forming a third portion of the collector over the doping spike and forming a base of the bipolar transistor over the third portion of the collector.

Systems and methods are disclosed for integrating functional components of front-end modules for wireless radios. Front-end modules disclosed may be dual-band front-end modules for use in 802.11ac-compliant devices. In certain embodiments, integration of front-end module components on a single die is achieved by implementing a high-resistivity layer or substrate directly underneath, adjacent to, and/or supporting SiGe BiCMOS technology elements.

Complementary high-voltage bipolar transistors formed in standard bulk silicon integrated circuits are disclosed. In one disclosed embodiment, collector regions are formed in an epitaxial silicon layer. Base regions and emitters are disposed over the collector region. An n-type region is formed under collector region by implanting donor impurities into a p-substrate for the PNP transistor and implanting acceptor impurities into the p-substrate for the NPN transistor prior to depositing the collector epitaxial regions. Later in the process flow these n-type and p-type regions are connected to the top of the die by a deep n+ and p+ wells respectively. The n-type well is then coupled to VCC while the p-type well is coupled to GND, providing laterally depleted portions of the PNP and NPN collector regions and hence, increasing their BVs.

One aspect of this disclosure is a power amplifier module that includes a power amplifier die, a first bonding pad on a conductive trace, and a second bonding pad on a conductive trace. The die includes an on-die passive device and a power amplifier. The first bonding pad is electrically connected to the on-die passive device by a first wire bond. The second bonding pad is in a conductive path between the first bonding pad and a radio frequency output of the power amplifier module. The second bonding pad includes a nickel layer having a thickness that is less than 0.5 um, a palladium layer over the nickel layer, and a gold layer over the palladium layer and bonded to a second wire bond that is electrically connected to an output of the power amplifier. Other embodiments of the module are provided along with related methods and components thereof.