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.

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.

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.

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 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 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 .

Review of gallium oxide based field-effect transistors and Schottky barrier diodes

Gallium oxide(Ga_2O_3), a typical ultra wide bandgap semiconductor, with a bandgap of ~4.9 e V, critical breakdown field of 8 MV/cm, and Baliga's figure of merit of 3444, is promising to be used in high-power and high-voltage devices.Recently, a keen interest in employing Ga_2O_3 in power devices has been aroused. Many researches have verified that Ga_2O_3 is an ideal candidate for fabricating power devices. In this review, we summarized the recent progress of field-effect transistors(FETs) and Schottky barrier diodes(SBDs) based on Ga_2O_3, which may provide a guideline for Ga_2O_3 to be preferably used in power devices fabrication.

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.

Environmental Analysis with 2D Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide-Based Field-Effect Transistors

Field-effect transistors(FETs)present highly sensitive,rapid,and in situ detection capability in chemical and biological analysis.Recently,two-dimensional(2D)transition-metal dichalcogenides(TMDCs)attract significant attention as FET channel due to their unique structures and outstanding properties.With the booming of studies on TMDC FETs,we aim to give a timely review on TMDCbased FET sensors for environmental analysis in different media.First,theoretical basics on TMDC and FET sensor are introduced.Then,recent advances of TMDC FET sensor for pollutant detection in gaseous and aqueous media are,respectively,discussed.At last,future perspectives and challenges in practical application and commercialization are given for TMDC FET sensors.This article provides an overview on TMDC sensors for a wide variety of analytes with an emphasize on the increasing demand of advanced sensing technologies in environmental analysis.

Field-effect transistors based on two-dimensional materials for logic applications

Field-effect transistors （FETs） for logic applications, graphene and MoS2, are discussed. These materials have based on two representative two-dimensional （2D） materials, drastically different properties and require different consider- ations. The unique band structure of graphene necessitates engineering of the Dirac point, including the opening of the bandgap, the doping and the interface, before the graphene can be used in logic applications. On the other hand, MoS2 is a semiconductor, and its electron transport depends heavily on the surface properties, the number of layers, and the carrier density. Finally, we discuss the prospects for the future developments in 2D material transistors.

Mobility enhancement of strained GaSb p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors with biaxial compressive strain

Various biaxial compressive strained GaSb p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors （MOSFETs） are experimentally and theoretically investigated, The biaxial compressive strained GaSb MOSFETs show a high peak mobility of 638 cm2/V.s, which is 3.86 times of the extracted mobility of the fabricated GaSb MOSFETs without strain. Meanwhile, first principles calculations show that the hole effective mass of GaSb depends on the biaxial compressive strain. The biaxiai compressive strain brings a remarkable enhancement of the hole mobility caused by a significant reduction in the hole effective mass due to the modulation of the valence bands.

Unique Characteristics of Vertical Carbon Nanotube Field-effect Transistors on Silicon

A vertical carbon nanotube field-effect transistor(CNTFET) based on silicon(Si) substrate has been proposed and simulated using a semi-classical theory. A single-walled carbon nanotube(SWNT) and an n-type Si nanowire in series construct the channel of the transistor. The CNTFET presents ambipolar characteristics at positive drain voltage(Vd) and n-type characteristics at negative Vd. The current is significantly influenced by the doping level of n-Si and the SWNT band gap. The n-branch current of the ambipolar characteristics increases with increasing doping level of the n-Si while the p-branch current decreases. The SWNT band gap has the same influence on the p-branch current at a positive Vd and n-type characteristics at negative Vd. The lower the SWNT band gap, the higher the current. However, it has no impact on the n-branch current in the ambipolar characteristics. Thick oxide is found to significantly degrade the current and the subthreshold slope of the CNTFETs.

Design consideration and fabrication of 1.2-kV 4H-SiC trenched-and-implanted vertical junction field-effect transistors

We present the design consideration and fabrication of 4H-SiC trenched-and-implanted vertical junction field-effect transistors （TI-VJFETs）. Different design factors, including channel width, channel doping, and mesa height, are con- sidered and evaluated by numerical simulations. Based on the simulation result, normally-on and normally-off devices are fabricated. The fabricated device has a 12 μm thick drift layer with 8 × 10^15 cm^-3 N-type doping and 2.6 μm channel length. The normally-on device shows a 1.2 kV blocking capability with a minimum on-state resistance of 2.33 mΩ.cm2, while the normally-off device shows an on-state resistance of 3.85 mΩ.cm2. Both the on-state and the blocking performances of the device are close to the state-of-the-art values in this voltage range.

A review for compact model of graphene field-effect transistors

Graphene has attracted enormous interests due to its unique physical, mechanical, and electrical properties. Specially, graphene-based field-effect transistors （FETs） have evolved rapidly and are now considered as an option for conventional silicon devices. As a critical step in the design cycle of modem IC products, compact model refers to the development of models for integrated semiconductor devices for use in circuit simulations. The purpose of this review is to provide a theoretical description of current compact model of graphene field-effect transistors. Special attention is devoted to the charge sheet model, drift-diffusion model, Boltzmann equation, density of states （DOS）, and surface-potential-based compact model. Finally, an outlook of this field is briefly discussed.

Hot-Carrier Effects on Total Dose Irradiated 65 nm n-Type Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors

The influence of total dose irradiation on hot-carrier reliability of 65 nm n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field- effect transistors （nMOSFETs） is investigated. Experimental results show that hot-carrier degradations on ir- radiated narrow channel nMOSFETs are greater than those without irradiation. The reason is attributed to radiation-induced charge trapping in shallow trench isolation （STI）. The electric field in the pinch-off region of the nMOSFET is enhanced by radiation-induced charge trapping in STI, resulting in a more severe hot-carrier effect.

Evaluation of a gate-first process for AlGaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors with low ohmic annealing temperature

In this paper, TiN/A1Ox gated A1GaN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors （MOS- HFETs） were fabricated for gate-first process evaluation. By employing a low temperature ohmic process, ohmic contact can be obtained by annealing at 600 ℃ with the contact resistance approximately 1.6 Ω.mm. The ohmic annealing process also acts as a post-deposition annealing on the oxide film, resulting in good device performance. Those results demonstrated that the TiN/A1Ox gated MOS-HFETs with low temperature ohmic process can be applied for self-aligned gate AIGaN/GaN MOS-HFETs.

Ge Complementary Tunneling Field-Effect Transistors Featuring Dopant Segregated NiGe Source/Drain

Ge complementary tunneling field-effect transistors（TFETs） are fabricated with the NiGe metal source/drain（S/D） structure. The dopant segregation method is employed to form the NiGe/Ge tunneling junctions of sufficiently high Schottky barrier heights. As a result, the Ge p-and n-TFETs exhibit decent electrical properties of large ON-state current and steep sub-threshold slope（S factor）. Especially, I_d of 0.2 μA/μm is revealed at V_g-V_（th） = V_d = ±0.5 V for Ge pTFETs,with the S factor of 28 mV/dec at 7 K.

The study on mechanism and model of negative bias temperature instability degradation in P-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors

Negative Bias Temperature Instability （NBTI） has become one of the most serious reliability problems of metaloxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors （MOSFETs）. The degradation mechanism and model of NBTI are studied in this paper. From the experimental results, the exponential value 0.25-0.5 which represents the relation of NBTI degradation and stress time is obtained. Based on the experimental results and existing model, the reaction-diffusion model with H^＋ related species generated is deduced, and the exponent 0.5 is obtained. The results suggest that there should be H^＋ generated in the NBTI degradation. With the real time method, the degradation with an exponent 0.5 appears clearly in drain current shift during the first seconds of stress and then verifies that H^＋ generated during NBTI stress.

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.