Improved heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) are disclosed. Inventive devices can attain high cut-off frequency (f.sub.T), exemplarily 80 GHz or higher, and high DC current gain (.beta.), exemplarily 25 or higher. The devices exhibit lateral scaling, permitting reduction in emitter stripe width without unacceptable decrease in .beta.. Exemplarily the stripe width is 1 .mu.m or less. The inventive HBTs are hot electron devices, with the hot electrons in the base region being spatially confined such that relatively few electrons reach the surface of the extrinsic base region. The relatively low bulk and surface recombination rate in the base of inventive HBTs is an important aspect of the invention and makes possible devices having relatively high .beta. and low power consumption. Appropriate choice of base material, namely, a semiconductor material having relatively low intrinsic surface recombination velocity, can result in further reduction of surface recombination, as can, for instance, the use of an appropriate non-alloyed metal base contact. Appropriate choice of collector material can result in improved ballistic transport through the collector depletion region, and novel selection criteria are disclosed. InP, InAs, and In.sub.0.53 Ga.sub.0.47 As are exemplary materials that meet these criteria. Use of a highly doped collector contact region, with dopant level within a relatively narrow concentration range, can also lead to improved device behavior, as can the use of a compound emitter that comprises one or more appropriately placed thin undoped heteroepitaxial layers.