Buried Dielectric Modulation in Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor

Abstract The tunnel field-effect transistor (TFET) with gate-on-source-only and n+ pocket configurations achieves both a low subthreshold swing (SS) and a high drain-source current. In this brief, the buried dielectric modulation effect in such a tunnel field-effect transistor (TFET) is investigated by using TCAD simulation. It is observed that the characteristic of the proposed TFET is modulated by the buried dielectric. Using a low- k dielectric material the electric field near the tunneling junction is increased, the band-to-band tunneling is enhanced and the drain-source current is increased. The simulation results show that with a low- k buried dielectric the drain-source current can be increased by more than one order of magnitude. The impact of the key parameters on the device performance is also discussed.