The present disclosure relates to a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) structure that significantly reduces current crowding while improving the current gain relative to conventional BJTs. The BJT includes a collector, a base region, and an emitter. The base region is formed over the collector and includes at least one extrinsic base region and an intrinsic base region that extends above the at least one extrinsic base region to provide a mesa. The emitter is formed over the mesa. The BJT may be formed from various material systems, such as the silicon carbide (SiC) material system. In one embodiment, the emitter is formed over the mesa such that essentially none of the emitter is formed over the extrinsic base regions. Typically, but not necessarily, the intrinsic base region is directly laterally adjacent the at least one extrinsic base region.