Vertical InAs/InGaAs Heterostructure Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors on Si

Area of Science:

• Semiconductor Physics
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• III-V compound semiconductors are crucial for continuing Moore's Law due to superior electron transport.
• Integrating III-V materials on silicon is a significant challenge, often addressed by vapor-liquid-solid grown vertical nanowires.
• Indium Arsenide (InAs) offers high electron mobility but suffers from band-to-band tunneling in Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) due to its narrow band gap, leading to high off-currents and power consumption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop vertical InAs/InGaAs heterostructure nanowire MOSFETs.
• To suppress band-to-band tunneling and reduce off-currents in InAs-based MOSFETs.
• To achieve low off-state current while maintaining high on-performance for advanced electronic applications.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of vertical heterostructure nanowire MOSFETs using InAs and InGaAs materials.
• Utilizing a wider band gap material (InGaAs) on the drain side of the InAs nanowire channel.
• Characterization of device performance, focusing on off-current and on-performance metrics.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated vertical InAs/InGaAs nanowire MOSFETs with significantly reduced off-currents.
• Achieved off-currents below 1 nA/μm, effectively suppressing band-to-band tunneling.
• Maintained on-performance comparable to conventional InAs MOSFETs.

Conclusions:

• The proposed InAs/InGaAs heterostructure nanowire MOSFET architecture effectively mitigates band-to-band tunneling.
• This approach enables low off-state leakage currents, crucial for power-efficient electronics.
• The technology paves the way for high-performance computing and low-power Internet-of-Things devices.