Silicon And Germanium (SiGe)

Industry applications

1. High frequency electronic devices

SIGE HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor): used in power amplifiers (PA) for 5G base stations and radar to achieve high gain (>20 DB) and low noise (noise factor <1 DB).

RF CMOS Integration: Combining silicon and germanium with complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) to improve the performance of radio frequency integrated circuits (RFIC).

2. Photoelectric devices

GE/SIGE Photoelectric Detector: A high-speed response (> 10 GB/S) is achieved in optical fiber communication (1.3-1.55ΜM band) for the absorber layer of the photoelectric detector.

Optical communication: Silicon-germanium photodetectors are used in optical modules for data centers to improve data transmission rates (e.g., 400G/800G)

Silicon-based laser: an epitaxial layer for a laser that uses the SIGE/SI quantum well structure to break through the indirect band gap of silicon and emit light.

3. Stress silicon technology

High performance logic chips: Introduce SIGE stress layer in FINFET or nanosheet transistors to improve carrier mobility and switching speed (such as INTEL 14NM process).

4. Artificial intelligence and edge computing

AI Chip: The high frequency and low power consumption characteristics of SIGE are suitable for the signal processing requirements of AI accelerator, which is suitable for real-time decision-making systems of autonomous driving and intelligent terminals.

Sensors: Short wave infrared (SWIR) sensors use SIGE epitaxial layers to enhance the environmental perception accuracy of autonomous vehicles