Planar nanoscale vacuum channel transistors based on resistive switching

Resistance switching (RS) offers promising applications in a variety of areas. In particular, silicon oxide (SiO_x) under RS can serve as electron sources in new types of miniature vacuum electron tubes. In this work, planar nanoscale vacuum channel transistors (NVCTs) with graphene electrodes and RS SiO_xelectron sources were developed. In each RS-NVCT, the resistance between the ground and the gate underwent high-low-high transitions, which resulted from formation and subsequent rupture of Si conducting filaments. Electrons were emitted from the post-reset Si filaments and the current received by the collector (I_C) was well controlled by the gate voltage (V_G). The transfer characteristics reveal thatI_Cwas quite sensitive toV_Gwhen RS occurred. WithV_Gsweeping from 0 to -20 V, the obtained subthreshold swing (SS) of 76 mV dec^-1was quite close to the theoretical limit of the SS of a field effect transistor at room temperature (60 mV dec^-1). The largest ON/OFF ratio was of the order of 10⁶. The output characteristics of the devices indicate that the dependence ofI_Con the collector voltage (V_C) weakened at highV_Cvalues. These results demonstrate the application potential of RS-NVCTs as either switching devices or amplifiers.