Effects of nonlinear C_BC on the linearity of HBT

It is commonly known that CBC is a very strong nonlinear source of HBT. To investigate the contribution of the nonlinear CBC to the linearity, HBTs with punch-through collector and normal collector were fabricated. At 2 GHz, the punch-through HBT and normal one exhibit the power gain of 16.6 dB and 16.9 dB, output power of 28.9 dBm and 28.6 dBm, and P.A.E. of 51% and 59%, respectively at 1 dB gain compression point. Two-tone tests were carried out for both power devices. The normal and punch-through HBTs showed the IMD3 (third-order intermodulation distortion) levels of -25 dBc and -20 dBc, respectively at 1 dB gain compression point; for both cases, IMD3 dropped to -30 dBc at 1.6 dB output power back off. Because CBC of HBT with punch-through is linear at small input signal, the IP3 power of the HBT is higher than that of the normal HBT by 15 dB. We found that RF grounding at the collector terminal is on efficient way of the third-order IM power reduction.