Esaki-Tunneling-Assisted Tunnel Field-Effect Transistors for Sub-0.7-V Operation

Abstract

Esaki-tunneling-assisted tunnel field-effect transistors (ETFETs) have been proposed which feature Esaki tunneling at drain-to-base junctions. They have shown lower subthreshold swing (SS) and higher on-current (I-on) than conventional TFETs, which means that ETFETs are attractive solutions to sub-0.7-V operation. It is because the Zener tunneling current induced by the source-to-channel junction is amplified by the embedded heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) whose emitter injection is assisted by Esaki tunneling.