On the Possibility of Obtaining MOSFET-Like Performance and Sub-60-mV/dec Swing in 1-D Broken-Gap Tunnel Transistors

• Published in: IEEE transactions on electron devices Vol. 57; no. 12; pp. 3222 - 3230
• Main Authors: Koswatta, S O, Koester, S J, Haensch, W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.12.2010; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Band-to-band tunneling; broken gap; Compound structure devices; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Design. Technologies. Operation analysis. Testing; Devices; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; FETs; heterojunction; Heterojunctions; Homojunctions; Injectors; Integrated circuits; Materials science; MOSFET circuits; MOSFETs; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanotubes; phonon scattering; Phonons; Physics; Quantum confinement; Scattering; Semiconductor devices; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Semiconductors; subthreshold swing; Swing; Transistors; Tunneling; tunneling field-effect transistor (TFET); Performance evaluation; MOSFET; Band-to-band tunneling; subthreshold swing; Tunnel effect; Carbon nanotubes; Non equilibrium conditions; Heterojunction; broken gap; High strength current; High performance; Band structure; Electron scattering; Quantum effect; Tunnel transistors; Green function; Field effect transistor; Homojunction; Phonon scattering; Low-power electronics; tunneling field-effect transistor (TFET); Power integrated circuits; Gain; Room temperature; Quantum transport
• ISSN: 0018-9383; 1557-9646
• DOI: 10.1109/TED.2010.2079250

Tunneling field-effect transistors (TFETs) have gained a great deal of interest recently due to their potential to reduce power dissipation in integrated circuits. One major challenge for TFETs so far has been to achieve high drive currents, which is a prerequisite for high-performance operation. In this paper, we explore the performance potential of a 1-D TFET with a broken-gap heterojunction source injector using dissipative quantum transport simulations based on the nonequilibrium Green's function formalism, as well as the carbon nanotube band structure as the model 1-D material system. We provide detailed insights into broken-gap TFET (BG-TFET) operation and show that it can, indeed, produce less than 60 mV/dec subthreshold swing at room temperature, even in the presence of electron-phonon scattering. The 1-D geometry is recognized to be uniquely favorable due to its superior electrostatic control, reduced carrier thermalization rate, and beneficial quantum confinement effects that reduce the off-state leakage below the thermionic limit. Because of higher source injection compared to staggered-gap and homojunction geometries, BG-TFET delivers superior performance that is comparable to MOSFET's. BG-TFET even exceeds the MOSFET performance at lower supply voltages (V DD ), showing promise for low-power/high-performance applications.