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Atomistic nature in band-to-band tunneling in two-dimensional silicon pn tunnel diodes

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4943094· OSTI ID:22591768
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  1. Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu 432-8011 (Japan)
  2. School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 1-1 Asahidai, Nomi 923-1292 (Japan)
We study low-temperature transport properties of two-dimensional (2D) Si tunnel diodes, or Si Esaki diodes, with a lateral layout. In ordinary Si Esaki diodes, interband tunneling current is severely limited because of the law of momentum conservation, while nanoscale Esaki diodes may behave differently due to the dopants in the narrow depletion region, by atomistic effects which release such current limitation. In thin-Si lateral highly doped pn diodes, we find clear signatures of interband tunneling between 2D-subbands involving phonon assistance. More importantly, the tunneling current is sharply enhanced in a narrow voltage range by resonance via a pair of a donor- and an acceptor-atom in the pn junction region. Such atomistic behavior is recognized as a general feature showing up only in nanoscale tunnel diodes. In particular, a donor-acceptor pair with deeper ground-state energies is likely to be responsible for such a sharply enhanced current peak, tunable by external biases.
OSTI ID:
22591768
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 108; ISSN APPLAB; ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English