Method of fabricating a miniaturized heterojunction bipolar transistor

Abstract

A heterojunction bipolar transistor of this invention is a miniaturized heterojunction bipolar transistor wherein at least one of an emitter layer and a collector layer is formed of a semiconductor material having a wider band gap than a material of a base layer. A method of fabricating the transistor includes the steps of forming a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type on a substrate, which first semiconductor layer serves as a collector layer, etching an unnecessary portion of the first semiconductor layer to form a groove, and burying an insulating layer in the groove, forming a second semiconductor layer serving as a base layer on the first semiconductor layer and that part of the insulating layer surrounding the first semiconductor layer, and forming a third semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type, serving as an emitter layer, on the second semiconductor layer. According to the method of this invention, a groove is formed, in advance, in an unnecessary part of the first semiconductor layer, which becomes the collector layer, and the insulating layer is buried in the groove. Thus, a flattened wafer having an element region defined therein can be obtained. The second semiconductor layer which becomes the base layer is formed on the wafer, following which the third semiconductor layer serving as the emitter layer is formed. Thus, the base-collector junction area can be reduced to a minimum necessary value. In addition, the surface with a small stepped portion can be obtained.