Grafted GaAs/Si Heterojunction Tunnel Diodes With Improved Peak-to-Valley Current Ratio (PVCR) of up to 36.38
We report the fabrication and characteristics of GaAs/Si <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">p</i><sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">+</sup><italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">/n</i><sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">+</sup> heterojunction tunnel diodes. These diodes were fabricated via grafting the freestanding single-crystalline p-type degenerately doped GaAs (4×10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">19</sup> cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-3</sup>) nanomembrane (NM) onto single-crystalline n-type Si (5×10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">19</sup> cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-3</sup>) substrate. At the heterointerface, an amorphous ultrathin oxygen-enriched layer (UOL) was intentionally engineered through chemical oxidation and atomic layer deposition (ALD). Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) confirmed the formation of the UOL and the single crystallinity of the grafted junction. The resulting tunnel diodes consistently exhibited negative differential resistance (NDR) behavior at room temperature, with a high maximum peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) of 36.38, valley voltages ranging from 1.3 to 1.8 V, and a peak tunneling current density of 0.95 kA/cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>. This study not only highlights the critical roles of the UOL as both an interface improvement layer and a quantum tunneling medium, but also establishes "semiconductor grafting" as an effective and versatile method for high-performance, lattice-mismatched heterojunction devices.
Authors
- Jiarui Gong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7304-4763)
- Tsung‐Han Tsai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4762-2512)
- Qingxiao Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1449-2478)
- Carolina Adamo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5331-2104)
- Boon S. Ooi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9606-5578)
- Y T Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2111-8118)
- Yang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6682-1186)
- Patrick Marshall
- Jie Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1393-3662)
- Vincent Gambin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3860-5166)
- Yara Banda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1535-782X)
- Tien Khee Ng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1480-6975)
- Yiran Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5880-9282)
- Yi Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6197-1471)
- Zhenqiang Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9214-1342)
- Zehan Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3027-3686)
Institutions
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Northrop Grumman (United States) (US)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- IEEE Electron Device Letters
- Published
- 2025-08-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1109/led.2025.3602858
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Semiconductor Quantum Structures and Devices
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.25
Funders
- Global Collaborative Research, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
- Defense Sciences Office, DARPA