Alpha Particle Effect on Multi-Nanosheet Tunneling Field-Effect Transistor at 3-nm Technology Node

Area of Science:

• Semiconductor device physics
• Radiation effects in electronics
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Conventional drift-diffusion (DD)-based field-effect transistors (FETs) are susceptible to radiation-induced soft errors.
• Nanosheet tunneling field-effect transistors (NS-TFETs) offer potential advantages but their radiation response needs investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the radiation effects on a 3-nm technology node multi-nanosheet tunneling-based field-effect transistor (NS-TFET).
• To compare the radiation response of NS-TFETs with conventional DD-based FETs.
• To analyze the influence of temperature and alpha particle energy on radiation effects in NS-TFETs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a three-dimensional (3D) technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulator.
• Simulated the injection of alpha particles into NS-TFETs.
• Analyzed drain current fluctuations and soft-error-rate (SER) issues.

Main Results:

• Radiation effects on NS-TFETs are distinct from conventional DD-FETs.
• Alpha particle injection into source/channel regions of NS-TFETs causes larger drain current fluctuations due to tunneling.
• Increased temperature exacerbates radiation effects due to reduced silicon bandgap energy and increased band-to-band generation.

Conclusions:

• NS-TFETs exhibit unique radiation susceptibility mechanisms compared to DD-FETs.
• The tunneling mechanism in NS-TFETs significantly influences drain current under radiation.
• Findings provide guidelines for designing radiation-hardened integrated circuits using novel device architectures.