Experimental Demonstration of p-Channel Germanium Epitaxial Tunnel Layer (ETL) Tunnel FET With High Tunneling Current and High ON/OFF Ratio

Abstract

A CMOS process compatible p-channel tunnel field-effect transistor (TFET) with an epitaxial tunnel layer (ETL) structure is demonstrated experimentally. The fabricated ETL p-TFET exhibits high tunneling current (I-ON similar to 0.17 mu A/mu m at vertical bar V-G vertical bar = 0.5 V after V-TH adjustment), ultra-low OFF-state current, and good average subthreshold swing (S.S. similar to 100 mV/decade up to 10 nA/mu m). Overall performance exceeds that of the current state-of-the-art Ge-based planar p-TFETs.