Valley-engineered ultra-thin silicon for high-performance junctionless transistors

Sci Rep. 2016 Jul 8:6:29354. doi: 10.1038/srep29354.

Abstract

Extremely thin silicon show good mechanical flexibility because of their 2-D like structure and enhanced performance by the quantum confinement effect. In this paper, we demonstrate a junctionless FET which reveals a room temperature quantum confinement effect (RTQCE) achieved by a valley-engineering of the silicon. The strain-induced band splitting and a quantum confinement effect induced from ultra-thin-body silicon are the two main mechanisms for valley engineering. These were obtained from the extremely well-controlled silicon surface roughness and high tensile strain in silicon, thereupon demonstrating a device mobility increase of ~500% in a 2.5 nm thick silicon channel device.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't