Effect of external magnetic field on the instability of THz plasma waves in nanoscale graphene field-effect transistors

The instability of plasma waves in the channel of field-effect transistors will cause the electromagnetic waves with THz frequency.Based on a self-consistent quantum hydrodynamic model,the instability of THz plasmas waves in the channel of graphene field-effect transistors has been investigated with external magnetic field and quantum effects.We analyzed the influence of weak magnetic fields,quantum effects,device size,and temperature on the instability of plasma waves under asymmetric boundary conditions numerically.The results show that the magnetic fields,quantum effects,and the thickness of the dielectric layer between the gate and the channel can increase the radiation frequency.Additionally,we observed that increase in temperature leads to a decrease in both oscillation frequency and instability increment.The numerical results and accompanying images obtained from our simulations provide support for the above conclusions.

Unipolar p-type monolayer WSe_(2) field-effect transistors with high current density and low contact resistance enabled by van der Waals contacts

High-performance field-effect transistors (FETs) based on atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have demonstrated great promise in post-Moore integrated circuits. However, unipolar p-type 2D semiconductor transistors yet remain challenging and suffer from low saturation current density (less than 10 µA·µm^(−1)) and high contact resistance (larger than 100 kΩ·µm), mainly limited by the Schottky barrier induced by the mismatch of the work-functions and the Fermi level pinning at the metal contact interfaces. Here, we overcome these two obstacles through van der Waals (vdW) integration of high work-function metal palladium (Pd) as the contacts onto monolayer WSe2 grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. We demonstrate unipolar p-type monolayer WSe2 FETs with superior device performance: room temperature on-state current density exceeding 100 µA·µm^(−1), contact resistance of 12 kΩ·µm, on/off ratio over 107, and field-effect hole mobility of ~ 103 cm2·V^(−1)·s^(−1). Electrical transport measurements reveal that the Fermi level pinning effect is completely effectively eliminated in monolayer WSe2 with vdW Pd contacts, leading to a Schottky barrier-free Ohmic contact at the metal-semiconductor junctions. Combining the advantages of large-scale vdW contact strategy and CVD growth, our results pave the way for wafer-scale fabrication of complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) logic circuits based on atomically thin 2D semiconductors.

Photo-driven fin field-effect transistors

The integration between infrared detection and modern microelectronics offers unique opportunities for compact and high-resolution infrared imaging.However,silicon,the cornerstone of modern microelectronics,can only detect light within a limited wavelength range(<1100 nm)due to its bandgap of 1.12 eV,which restricts its utility in the infrared detection realm.Herein,a photo-driven fin field-effect transistor is presented,which breaks the spectral response constraint of conventional silicon detectors while achieving sensitive infrared detection.This device comprises a fin-shaped silicon channel for charge transport and a lead sulfide film for infrared light harvesting.The lead sulfide film wraps the silicon channel to form a“three-dimensional”infrared-sensitive gate,enabling the photovoltage generated at the lead sulfide-silicon junction to effectively modulate the channel conductance.At room temperature,this device realizes a broadband photodetection from visible(635 nm)to short-wave infrared regions(2700 nm),surpassing the working range of the regular indium gallium arsenide and germanium detectors.Furthermore,it exhibits low equivalent noise powers of 3.2×10^(-12) W·Hz^(-1/2) and 2.3×10^(-11) W·Hz^(-1/2) under 1550 nm and 2700 nm illumination,respectively.These results highlight the significant potential of photo-driven fin field-effect transistors in advancing uncooled silicon-based infrared detection.

A field-effect WSe_(2)/Si heterojunction diode

It is significant to develop a heterogeneous integration technology to promote the application of two-dimensional(2D)materials in silicon roadmap. In this paper, we reported a field-effect WSe_(2)/Si heterojunction diode based on ambipolar 2D WSe_(2) and silicon on insulator(SOI). Our results indicate that the device exhibits a p–n diode behavior with a rectifying ratio of ~300 and an ideality factor of 1.37. As a photodetector, it has optoelectronic properties with a response time of 0.13 ms, responsivity of 0.045 A/W, detectivity of 4.5×10~(10) Jones and external quantum efficiency(EQE) of 8.9 %.Due to the ambipolar behavior of the WSe_(2), the rectifying and optoelectronic properties of the heterojunction diode can be modulated by the gate electrical field, enabling various potential applications such as logic optoelectronic devices and neuromorphic optoelectronic devices for in-sensor computing circuits. Thanks to the process based on the mature SOI technique, our field-effect heterojunction diode should have obvious advantages in device isolation and integration.

Novel GaN-based double-channel p-heterostructure field-effect transistors with a p-GaN insertion layer

GaN-based p-channel heterostructure field-effect transistors(p-HFETs)face significant constraints on on-state currents compared with n-channel high electron mobility transistors.In this work,we propose a novel double heterostructure which introduces an additional p-GaN insertion layer into traditional p-HFETs.The impact of the device structure on the hole densities and valence band energies of both the upper and lower channels is analyzed by using Silvaco TACD simulations,including the thickness of the upper AlGaN layer and the doping impurities and concentration in the GaN buffer layer,as well as the thickness and Mg-doping concentration in the p-GaN insertion layer.With the help of the p-GaN insertion layer,the C-doping concentration in the GaN buffer layer can be reduced,while the density of the two-dimensional hole gas in the lower channel is enhanced at the same time.This work suggests that a double heterostructure with a p-GaN insertion layer is a better approach to improve p-HFETs compared with those devices with C-doped buffer layer alone.

Effect of spin on the instability of THz plasma waves in field-effect transistors under non-ideal boundary conditions

Terahertz(THz) radiation can be generated due to the instability of THz plasma waves in field-effect transistors(FETs). In this work, we discuss the instability of THz plasma waves in the channel of FETs with spin and quantum effects under non-ideal boundary conditions. We obtain a linear dispersion relation by using the hydrodynamic equation, Maxwell equation and spin equation. The influence of source capacitance, drain capacitance, spin effects, quantum effects and channel width on the instability of THz plasma waves under the non-ideal boundary conditions is investigated in great detail. The results of numerical simulation show that the THz plasma wave is unstable when the drain capacitance is smaller than the source capacitance;the oscillation frequency with asymmetric boundary conditions is smaller than that under non-ideal boundary conditions;the instability gain of THz plasma waves becomes lower under non-ideal boundary conditions. This finding provides a new idea for finding efficient THz radiation sources and opens up a new mechanism for the development of THz technology.

The Bipolar Theory of the Field-Effect Transistor:X.The Fundamental Physics and Theory(All Device Structures)

This paper describes the foundation underlying the device physics and theory of the semiconductor field effect transistor which is applicable to any devices with two carrier species in an electric field. The importance of the boundary conditions on the device current-voltage characteristics is discussed. An illustration is given of the transfer DCIV characteristics computed for two boundary conditions,one on electrical potential,giving much higher drift-limited parabolic current through the intrinsic transistor, and the other on the electrochemical potentials, giving much lower injection-over-thebarrier diffusion-limited current with ideal 60mV per decade exponential subthreshold roll-off, simulating electron and hole contacts. The two-MOS-gates on thin pure-body silicon field-effect transistor is used as examples

The Bipolar Field-Effect Transistor:Ⅳ.Short Channel Drift-Diffusion Current Theory(Two-MOS-Gates on Pure-Base)

This paper gives the short channel analytical theory of the bipolar field-effect transistor （BiFET） with the drift and diffusion currents separately computed in the analytical theory. As in the last-month paper which represented the drift and diffusion current by the single electrochemical （potential-gradient） current, the two-dimensional transistor is partitioned into two sections, the source and drain sections, each can operate as the electron or hole emitter or collector under specific combinations of applied terminal voltages. Analytical solution is then obtained in the source and drain sections by separating the two-dimensional trap-free Shockley Equations into two one-dimensional equations parametrically coupled via the surface-electric-potential and by using electron current continuity and hole current continuity at the boundary between the emitter and collector sections. Total and the drift and diffusion components of the electron-channel and hole-channel currents and output and transfer conductances, and the electrical lengths of the two sections are computed and presented in graphs as a function of the D. C. terminal voltages for the model transistor with two identical and connected metal-oxide-silicon-gates （MOS-gates） on a thin pure-silicon base over practical ranges of thicknesses of the silicon base and gate oxide. Deviations of the two-section short-channel theory from the one-section long-channel theory are described.

The Bipolar Field-Effect Transistor:Ⅰ.Electrochemical Current Theory(Two-MOS-Gates on Pure-Base)

This paper describes the bipolar field-effect transistor （BiFET） and its theory. Analytical solution is ob- tained from partitioning the two-dimensional transistor into two one-dimensional transistors. The analysis employs the parametric surface-electric-potential and the electrochemical （quasi-Fermi） potential-gradient driving force to compute the current. Output and transfer D. C. current and conductance versus voltage are presented over practi- cal ranges of terminal D. C. voltages and device parameters. Electron and hole surface channel currents are pres- ent simultaneously, a new feature which could provide circuit functions in one physical transistor such as the CMOS inverter and SRAM memory.

The Bipolar Field-Effect Transistor: III.Short Channel Electrochemical Current Theory (Two-MOS-Gates on Pure-Base)

This paper describes the short channel theory of the bipolar field-effect transistor （BiFET） by partitioning the transistor into two sections,the source and drain sections,each can operate as the electron or hole emitter or collector under specific combinations of applied terminal voltages. Analytical solution is obtained in the source and drain sections by separating the two-dimensional trap-free Shockley Equations into two one-dimensional equations parametrically coupled via the surface-electric-potential and by using electron current continuity and hole current continuity at the boundary between the emitter and collector sections. Total and electron-hole-channel components of the output and transfer currents and conductances, and the electrical lengths of the two sections are computed and presented in graphs as a function of the D. C. terminal voltages for the model transistor with two identical and connected metal-oxide-silicon-gates （MOS-gates） on a thin pure-silicon base over practical ranges of thicknesses of the silicon base and gate oxide. Deviations of the long physical channel currents and conductances from those of the short electrical channels are reported.

The Theory of Field-Effect Transistors:XI. The Bipolar Electrochemical Currents(1-2-MOS-Gates on Thin-Thick Pure-Impure Base)

The field-effect transistor is inherently bipolar, having simultaneously electron and hole surface and volume channels and currents. The channels and currents are controlled by one or more externally applied transverse electric fields. It has been known as the unipolar field-effect transistor for 55-years since Shockley＇s 1952 invention,because the electron-current theory inevitably neglected the hole current from over-specified internal and boundary conditions, such as the electrical neutrality and the constant hole-electrochemical-potential, resulting in erroneous solutions of the internal and terminal electrical characteristics from the electron channel current alone, which are in gross error when the neglected hole current becomes comparable to the electron current, both in subthreshold and strong inversion. This report presents the general theory, that includes both electron and hole channels and currents. The rectangular （ x, y, z） parallelepiped transistors,uniform in the width direction （z-axis）,with one or two MOS gates on thin and thick,and pure and impure base, are used to illustrate the two-dimensional effects and the correct internal and boundary conditions for the electric and the electron and hole electrochemical potentials. Complete analytical equations of the DC current-voltage characteristics of four common MOS transistor structures are derived without over-specification： the 1-gate on semi-infinite-thick impure-base （the traditional bulk transistor）, the 1-gate on thin impure-silicon layer over oxide-insulated silicon bulk （SOI） ,the 1-gate on thin impure-silicon layer deposited on insulating glass （SOI TFT）, and the 2-gates on thin pure-base （FinFETs）.

The Bipolar Field-Effect Transistor:II.Drift-Diffusion Current Theory(Two-MOS-Gates on Pure-Base)

This paper describes the drift-diffusion theory of the bipolar field-effect transistor （BiFET） with two identical and connected metal-oxide-silicon-gates （MOS-gates） on a thin-pure-base. Analytical solution is obtained by partitioning the two-dimensional transistor into two one-dimensional problems coupled by the parametric sur- face-electric-potential. Total and component output and transfer currents and conductances versus D. C. voltages from the drift-diffusion theory, and their deviations from the electrochemical （quasi-Fermi） potential-gradient theory,are presented over practical ranges of thicknesses of the silicon base and gate oxide. A substantial contri- bution from the longitudinal gradient of the square of the transverse electric field is shown.

'The Theory of Field-Effect Transistors XII.The Bipolar Drift and Diffusion Currents(1-2-MOS-Gates on Thin-Thick Pure-Impure Base)

The previous report （XI） gave the electrochemical-potential theory of the Bipolar Field-Effect Transistors. This report （XII） gives the drift-diffusion theory. Both treat 1-gate and 2-gate, pure-base and impure-base, and thin and thick base. Both utilize the surface and bulk potentials as the parametric variables to couple the voltage and current equations. In the present drift-diffusion theory, the very many current terms are identified by their mobility multiplier for the components of drift current,and the diffusivity multiplier for the components of the diffusion current. Complete analytical driftdiffusion equations are presented to give the DC current-voltage characteristics of four common MOS transistor structures. The drift current consists of four terms： 1-D （One-Dimensional） bulk charge drift term, 1-D carrier space-charge drift term,l-D Ex^2 （transverse electric field） drift term,2-D drift term. The diffusion current consists of three terms： 1-D bulk charge diffusion term,l-D carrier space-charge diffusion term,and 2-D diffusion term. The 1-D Ex^2 drift term was missed by all the existing transistor theories, and contributes significantly, as much as 25 % of the total current when the base layer is nearly pure. The 2-D terms come from longitudinal gradient of the longitudinal electric field,which scales as the square of the Debye to Channel length ratio, at 25nm channel length with nearly pure base, （LD/L）^2 = 10^6 but with impurity concentration of 10^18cm^-3 , （LD/L）^2 = 10^-2 .

The Bipolar Field-Effect Transistor:V.Bipolar Electrochemical Current Theory(Two-MOS-Gates on Thin-Base)

This paper reports the intrinsic-structure DC characteristics computed from the analytical electrochemical current theory of the bipolar field-effect transistor （BiFET） with two identical MOS gates on nanometer-thick pure-base of silicon with no generation-recombination-trapping. Numerical solutions are rapidly obtained for the three potential variables,electrostatic and electron and hole electrochemical potentials,to give the electron and hole surface and volume channel currents,using our cross-link two-route or zig-zag one-route recursive iteration algorithms. Boundary conditions on the three potentials dominantly affect the intrinsic-structure DC characteristics,illustrated by examples covering 20-decades of current （10-22 to 10-2 A/Square at 400cm^2/（V · s） mobility for 1.5nm gate-oxide, and 30nm-thick pure-base）. Aside from the domination of carrier space-charge-limited drift current in the strong surface channels,observed in the theory is also the classical drift current saturation due to physical pinch-off of an impure-base volume channel depicted by the 1952 Shockley junction-gate field-effect transistor theory,and its extension to complete cut-off of the pure-base volume channel,due to vanishing carrier screening by the few electron and hole carriers in the pure-base,with Debye length （25mm） much larger than device dimension （25nm）.

Thickness dependence of surface morphology and charge carrier mobility in organic field-effect transistors

With the aim of understanding the relationships between organic small molecule field-effect transistors （FETs） and organic conjugated polymer FETs, we investigate the thickness dependence of surface morphology and charge carrier mobility in pentacene and regioregular poly （3-hexylthiophene） （RR-P3HT） field-effect transistors. On the basis of the results of surface morphologies and electrical properties, we presume that the charge carrier mobility is largely related to the morphology of the organic active layer. We observe that the change trends of the surface morphologies （average size and average roughness） of pentacene and RR-P3HT thin films are mutually opposite, as the thickness of the organic layer increases. Further, we demonstrate that the change trends of the field-effect mobilities of pentacene and RR-P3HT FETs are also opposite to each other, as the thickness of the organic layer increases within its limit.

Fabrication and characterization of the normally-off N-channel lateral 4H–SiC metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors

In this paper, the normally-off N-channel lateral 4H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors （MOSF- FETs） have been fabricated and characterized. A sandwich- （nitridation-oxidation-nitridation） type process was used to grow the gate dielectric film to obtain high channel mobility. The interface properties of 4H-SiC/SiO2 were examined by the measurement of HF l-V, G-V, and C-V over a range of frequencies. The ideal C-V curve with little hysteresis and the frequency dispersion were observed. As a result, the interface state density near the conduction band edge of 4H-SiC was reduced to 2 x 1011 eV-l.cm-2, the breakdown field of the grown oxides was about 9.8 MV/cm, the median peak field- effect mobility is about 32.5 cm2.V-1 .s-1, and the maximum peak field-effect mobility of 38 cm2-V-1 .s-1 was achieved in fabricated lateral 4H-SiC MOSFFETs.

Vacuum relaxation and annealing-induced enhancement of mobility of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) field-effect transistors

In order to enhance the performance of regioregular poly（3-hexylthiophene） （RR-P3HT） field-effect transistors （FETs）, RR-P3HT FETs are prepared by the spin-coating method followed by vacuum placement and annealing. This paper reports that the crystal structure, the molecule interconnection, the surface morphology, and the charge carrier mobility of RR-P3HT films are affected by vacuum relaxation and annealing. The results reveal that the field-effect mobility of RR-P3HT FETs can reach 4.17×10^-2m^2/（V·s） by vacuum relaxation at room temperature due to an enhanced local self-organization. Furthermore, it reports that an appropriate annealing temperature can facilitate the crystal structure, the orientation and the interconnection of polymer molecules. These results show that the field-effect mobility of device annealed at 150 ℃ for 10 minutes in vacuum at atmosphere and followed by placement for 20 hours in vacuum at room temperature is enhanced dramatically to 9.00×10^-2m^2/（V·s）.

Impact of low/high-κ spacer-source overlap on characteristics of tunnel dielectric based tunnel field-effect transistor

The effects of low-κ and high-κ spacer were investigated on the novel tunnel dielectric based tunnel field-effect transistor(TD-FET) mainly based upon ultra-thin dielectric direct tunneling mechanism. Drive currents consist of direct tunneling current and band-to-band tunneling(BTBT) current. Meanwhile, tunneling position of the TD-FET differs from conventional tunnel-FET in which the electron and hole tunneling occur at intermediate rather than surface in channel(or source-channel junction under gate dielectric). The 2-D nature of TD-FET current flow is also discussed that the on-current is degraded with an increase in the spacer width. BTBT current will not begin to play part in tunneling current until gate voltage is 0.2 V. We clearly identify the influence of the tunneling dielectric layer and spacer electrostatic field on the device characteristics by numerical simulations. The inserted Si_3N_4 tunnel layer between P+ region and N+ region can significantly shorten the direct and band-to-band tunneling path, so a reduced subthreshold slope(Ss) and a high on-current can be achieved. Above all the ambipolar current is effectively suppressed, thus reducing off-current. TD-FET demonstrates excellent performance for low-power applications.

Effects of concentration and annealing on the performance of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) field-effect transistors

This paper investigates the effects of concentration on the crystalline structure, the morphology, and the charge carrier mobility of regioregular poly（3-hexylthiophene） （RR-P3HT） field-effect transistors （FETs）. The RR-P3HT FETs with RR-P3HT as an active layer with different concentrations of RR-P3HT solution from 0.5 wt% to 2 wt% are prepared. The results indicate that the performance of RR-P3HT FETs improves drastically with the increase of RR-P3HT weight percentages in chloroform solution due to the formation of more microcrystalline lamellae and bigger nanoscale islands. It finds that the field-effect mobility of RR-P3HT FET with 2 wt% can reach 5.78×10^-3 cm^2/Vs which is higher by a factor of 13 than that with 0.5 wt%. Further, an appropriate thermal annealing is adopted to improve the performance of RR-P3HT FETs. The field-effect mobility of RR-P3HT FETs increases drastically to 0.09 cm^2/Vs by thermal annealing at 150 ℃, and the value of on/off current ratio can reach 104.

Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides and Their Charge Carrier Mobilities in Field-Effect Transistors

Two-dimensional(2D) materials have attracted extensive interest due to their excellent electrical, thermal,mechanical, and optical properties. Graphene has been one of the most explored 2D materials. However, its zero band gap has limited its applications in electronic devices. Transition metal dichalcogenide(TMDC), another kind of 2D material,has a nonzero direct band gap(same charge carrier momentum in valence and conduction band) at monolayer state,promising for the efficient switching devices(e.g., field-effect transistors). This review mainly focuses on the recent advances in charge carrier mobility and the challenges to achieve high mobility in the electronic devices based on 2DTMDC materials and also includes an introduction of 2D materials along with the synthesis techniques. Finally, this review describes the possible methodology and future prospective to enhance the charge carrier mobility for electronic devices.