Heteromaterial gate tunnel field effect transistor with lateral energy band profile modulation

Abstract

A tunnel field effect transistor (TFET) device with a heteromaterial gate structure was introduced, and the influence of the lateral energy band profile modulation effect on the performance of TFET devices has been investigated. The two-dimensional numerical simulations demonstrated that a local minimum of the conduction band in the channel was formed by work function mismatch, which resulted in the abrupt transition between the on- and off-states and significant drive current enhancement. In particular, these unique features could be manipulated by engineering the heteromaterial and the gate length. This work reveals an effective method to improve the performance of nanoscale TFETs.