Improved source design for p-type tunnel field-effect transistors: Towards truly complementary logic

Journal Article · Mon Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 2014 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4904712· OSTI ID:22395560

Verreck, Devin; Groeseneken, Guido ^[1]; Verhulst, Anne S.; Collaert, Nadine; Mocuta, Anda; Thean, Aaron ^[1]; Sorée, Bart ^[1]

---

1. imec, Kapeldreef 75, 3001 Leuven (Belgium)

Complementary logic based on tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs) would drastically reduce power consumption thanks to the TFET's potential to obtain a sub-60 mV/dec subthreshold swing (SS). However, p-type TFETs typically do not meet the performance of n-TFETs for direct bandgap III-V configurations. The p-TFET SS stays well above 60 mV/dec, due to the low density of states in the conduction band. We therefore propose a source configuration in which a highly doped region is maintained only near the tunnel junction. In the remaining part of the source, the hot carriers in the exponential tail of the Fermi-Dirac distribution are blocked by reducing the doping degeneracy, either with a source section with a lower doping concentration or with a heterostructure. We apply this concept to n-p-i-p configurations consisting of In{sub 0.53}Ga{sub 0.47}As and an InP-InAs heterostructure. 15-band quantum mechanical simulations predict that the configurations with our source design can obtain sub-60 mV/dec SS, with an on-current comparable to the conventional source design.

• OSTI ID: 22395560
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 24 Vol. 105; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
CHARGE CARRIERS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONCENTRATION RATIO
DENSITY OF STATES
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ENERGY GAP
FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
HETEROJUNCTIONS
INDIUM ARSENIDES
INDIUM PHOSPHIDES
P-N JUNCTIONS
PERFORMANCE
POTENTIALS
QUANTUM MECHANICS
TUNNEL EFFECT