Exploring Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) as a Gate Dielectric for Next-Generation MOSFETs

This study investigates the potential of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) as a gate dielectric material for metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). Known for its excellent insulating properties, hBN was evaluated for its impact on device performance. A 2nm hBN layer was integrated over SiO2 in the MOSFET structure, and its output characteristics (I<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">D</inf>−V<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">DS</inf>) were measured across varying gate voltages (V<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">GS</inf>). The device exhibited well-defined saturation regions, indicative of effective channel modulation, with the drain current (I<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">D</inf>) increasing linearly with V<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">DS</inf> in the linear region and achieving saturation, consistent with standard MOSFET behavior. The small terminal charge observed, on the order of 10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−32</sup> C, suggests a significant reduction in device capacitance due to the highly effective insulating properties of the hBN layer. This reduction in capacitance could lead to lower power consumption and faster switching speeds, making hBN an attractive candidate for next-generation transistor technologies.