Bonus chapter: multifunctional Si–LiNbO3 heterostructures for nonvolatile memory units

Chapter 3 - Field Effect Transistors: FETs and HEMTs

Field effect transistors: FETs and HEMTs

The application of Field Effect Transistors (FETs) to sensors and biosensors allows a mass production, low cost, small size, fast response and, also, the possibility of integrating the device and conditioning signal circuit in the same integrated circuit (IC). The Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistor (ISFET), invented in 1970 by Piet Bergveld (1), is a device similar to the conventional Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET), except that the metal gate is replaced by an inert electrode/pseudo electrode and a sample solution, in order to expose the gate oxide layer to ions present in the solution. The solution charges change the electrical potential in the gate oxide surface and, consequently, the device threshold voltage changes as a function of the ion concentration in the sample solution, being used as a pH sensor. Thus, the ISFET is a very promising device to Point-of-Care (POC) monitoring, such as COVID-19 control (2) and for continuous in vivo monitoring ion activity in biological processes (3)-(6).The BESOI (Back Enhanced Silicon-On-Insulator) MOSFET is a device patented in 2015 by João Antonio Martino and Ricardo Cardoso Rangel (7). This device is easy to fabricate and low cost. In the last years, the research using this device as a sensor/biosensor has been done (8)-(14). This paper presents, for the first time, the BESOI MOSFET working as an Ion Sensitive Field Effect Transistor (ISFET): the BESOI ISFET. Therefore, the focus of this work is to study the device electrical behavior influenced for pH standard solutions.The BESOI ISFET was fabricated at Integrated System Laboratory (LSI) from University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil. It is a planar device made on a SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) wafer with three conventional photolithography steps, in an analogous way to previous work (15) and one more photolithography step to create microchannel and microreservoirs with SU-8 (16) layer to contain the sample solution. The wafer has no doping process (there is only the natural wafer doping of 1015 cm-3). The silicon channel layer and the gate oxide (SiO2) thicknesses are 10 nm and 25 nm, respectively. The buried oxide layer thickness is 200 nm. The drain and source contacts are fabricated with nickel and the contact pads using aluminum. The Figure 1 presents the final device layout and the Figure 2 shows the device schematic drawn.Differently from a conventional ISFET, where the drain current flows at the front interface, in the BESOI ISFET the drain current flows at the back interface. As the BESOI ISFET is a non-intentionally doped device, the free conduction charge layer is formed by biasing the Back Gate electrode (VGB). When a positive enough VGB is applied, electrons are attracted and accumulated at the back interface, and therefore, current flows from source to drain when VDS (Drain bias) is applied. A Platinum (Pt) pseudo-electrode is used to apply front-gate voltage (VGF) to the sample solution.The experimental drain current (IDS) as a function of the front-gate voltage (VGF), for 25 V applied at the back-gate (VGB), is presented in Figure 3.A, which is possible to observe that the neutral pH (pH7) curve stayed between the acid pH (pH4) curve, in the left, and alkaline pH (pH10) curve, in the right. This result shows that the threshold voltage (VTH) is lower for acid pH and higher for alkaline pH, what is compatible with the conventional ISFET results present in the literature (17). To corroborate the experimental measurement result, the device simulation was made with TCAD-Sentaurus (18), based in the paper (19). Figure 3.B shows the same trend for the simulated device with pH solution for any VGB value.In Figure 4, the threshold voltage was analyzed as a function of the pH for different VGB values. The VTH increases (becomes more positive) for alkaline pH values, regardless of the VGB applied. However, the VTH variation in the pH range, between pH4 and pH10, is different for different VGB values. With higher VGB applied, higher is the VTH variation. In Figure 5 Is possible to see clearly that the sensitivity (ΔVTH /ΔpH) increases with the VGB increase probably due to the small influence of the series resistance. In another hand, the acquired sensitivity values for VGB higher than 15 V in this work (about 25-33 mV/pH, approximately), is compatible with results present in the literature for conventional ISFETs with silicon dioxide (SiO2) for gate insulator (20). Figure 1

Synthesis of coaxial nanocables of single-walled carbon nanotubes sheathed with amorphous silicon oxide

As an important component of 2D layered materials (2DLMs), the 2D group IV metal chalcogenides (GIVMCs) have drawn much attention recently due to their earth‐abundant, low‐cost, and environmentally friendly characteristics, thus catering well to the sustainable electronics and optoelectronics applications. In this instructive review, the booming research advancements of 2D GIVMCs in the last few years have been presented. First, the unique crystal and electronic structures are introduced, suggesting novel physical properties. Then the various methods adopted for synthesis of 2D GIVMCs are summarized such as mechanical exfoliation, solvothermal method, and vapor deposition. Furthermore, the review focuses on the applications in field effect transistors and photodetectors based on 2D GIVMCs, and extends to flexible devices. Additionally, the 2D GIVMCs based ternary alloys and heterostructures have also been presented, as well as the applications in electronics and optoelectronics. Finally, the conclusion and outlook have also been presented in the end of the review.

A comparative study on the edge states in phosphorene quantum dots and rings

N-heterotriangulenes (N-HTAs) are promising organic semiconductors for applications in field effect transistors and solar cells. Thereby the electronic structure of organic/metal interfaces and thin films is essential for the performance of organic-molecule-based devices. Here, we studied the structural and the electronic properties of two different N-HTAs, N-HTA 550 and N-HTA 557, the latter containing an additional 7-membered ring, adsorbed on Au(111) using vibrational and electronic high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy in combination with state-of-the-art quantum chemical calculations. In the mono- and multilayer, both N-HTAs adopt a planar adsorption geometry with the molecular backbone oriented parallel to the gold substrate. The energies of the lowest excited electronic singlet states (S) are assigned. The optical gap (S0 → S1 transition) is found to be 3.4 eV for N-HTA 550 and 2.5 eV for N-HTA 557. Thus, the introduction of the −C═C– double bond in N-HTA 557 resulted in a pronounced decrease of the optical gap size by 0.9 eV due to the larger π-conjugated electron system compared to N-HTA 550. Structural variations or substitution patterns in N-HTAs foster the opportunity for tailoring their electronic properties.

Novel boronate esters synthesized by the post-functionalization of PPEs and oligomers can provide an versatile platform for analogues.

2D Organic-Inorganic Hybrid perovskites (OIHPs) possess alternating layers of organic molecules and inorganic quantum wells. By tuning the interaction between organic and inorganic layers, very interesting properties can be introduced. The successful isolation of hybrid perovskite monolayers with clean and flat surfaces are particularly suitable for atomic structure characterization and optoelectronic device fabrication. In this talk, I will present recent results on the excitonic properties and atomic structure of molecularly thin OIHPs1,2. We found that a reversible shift in excitonic energies can be induced upon laser irradiation in large-sized 2D hybrid perovskite monolayers which is attributed to the reversible structural reorientation of the surface BA cations in the easily deformable lattice3. The photodetection performance of monolayer, bilayer and thicker OIHPs were compared. The internal quantum efficiency was measured to be 34% for a monolayer (BA)2(MA)3Pb4I13 and 19% for the bulk crystal. In addition, 2D heterostructures of molecularly thin OIHPs/graphene were constructed which exhibited a lower barrier than gold for carrier injection, enabling applications in field effect transistors (FETs)4. Electron tunneling occurs across the interface of organic molecular layers on 2D perovskite and graphene, while photoinduced charge transfer occurs at femtosecond timescale (~50 fs).Resolving the atomic structure of 2D hybrid perovskite is a challenging task because it is easily damaged by electron beam. Here we use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) & Qplus AFM to directly visualize surface octahedral tilt in freshly exfoliated 2D Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites (RPPs)5. The experimentally determined octahedral tilts from n = 1 to n = 4 RPPs from STM images are found to agree very well with out-of-plane surface octahedral tilts predicted by density functional theory calculations. The surface-enhanced octahedral tilt is correlated to excitonic redshift observed in photoluminescence (PL) and promotes Rashba spin splitting for n > 1. Our studies demonstrate a protocol to investigate structure-property correlations in low dimensional 2D OIHPs, which will pave the way to better material design and device performance.References Leng, W. Fu, Y. Liu, M. Chhowalla & KP Loh* “From Bulk to Molecularly Thin Hybrid Perovskites” Nature Reviews Materials , 5, 482-500 (2020).Zhao, KP Loh, K. Leng* “Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites and their heterostructures” Matter , 5, 4153-4169 (2022).Leng, I. Abdelwaha, I. Verzhbitskiy, M. Telychko, L. Chu, W. Fu, X. Chi, N. Guo, Z. Chen, Z. Chen, C. Zhang, Q. Xu, J. Lu, M. Chhowalla, G. Eda, KP Loh* “Molecularly thin two-dimensional hybrid perovskites with tunable optoelectronic properties due to reversible surface relaxation” Nature Materials , 17, 908-914 (2018).Leng, L. Wang, Y. Shao, I. Abdelwahab, G. Grinblat, I. Verzhbitskiy, Y. Cai, X. Chi, W. Fu, P. Song, G. Eda, S. A. Maier & KP Loh* “Electron Tunneling at the Molecularly Thin 2D Perovskite and Graphene Van der Waals Interface” Nature Communications , 11, 5483 (2020).Y Shao, W. Gao, H. Yan, R. Li, I. Abdelwahab, L. Zhuang, W. Fu, SP Lau, SF YU, Y. Cai, KP Loh, K. Leng* “Unlocking Surface Octahedral Tilt in Two-dimensional Ruddlesden-Popper Perovskites” Nature Communications , 13, 138 (2022). AcknowledgementK.L. would like to acknowledge the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. PolyU15305221 for GRF project funded in 2021/22 Exercise and Project No. PolyU25305222 for ECS project funded in 2022/23 Exercise).

This is an overview of the main physical ideas for application of field effect transistors for generation and detection of Terahertz radiation. Resonant frequencies of the two-dimensional plasma oscillations in FETs increase with the reduction of the channel dimensions and reach the THz range for sub-micron gate lengths. When the mobility is high enough, the dynamics of a short channel FET at THz frequencies is dominated by plasma waves. This may result, on the one hand, in a spontaneous generation of plasma waves by a dc current and on the other hand, in a resonant response to the incoming radiation. In the opposite case, when plasma oscillations are overdamped, the FET can operate as an efficient broadband THz detector.

The primary challenge facing electronics, which remain central to modern technological advancement, lies in the increasing difficulty of further dimensional scaling. Monolithic three‐dimensional (M3D) integrated can preserve the performance of conventional two‐dimensional (2D) devices while achieving higher integration density along the vertical dimension, representing a core technology for developing multifunctional, high‐density electronic systems in the More‐Than‐Moore era. Atomic layer deposition (ALD), a surface‐controlled chemical vapor deposition technique, enables atomic‐level thickness precision and uniform, conformal thin film growth over large areas and complex three‐dimensional (3D) architectures. It has become a key process for depositing substrates, high‐ к dielectrics, channel materials, and metal gate electrodes in modern semiconducting device fabrication. ALD‐based M3D architectures provide a promising platform for next‐generation 3D compute‐in‐memory systems, neuromorphic hardware, integrated photonic circuits, and flexible electronic devices. This review provides a comprehensive overview of ALD‐fabricated 2D metal oxide, high‐ к dielectric, and 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) semiconductors, emphasizing their applications in field effect transistors (FETs) and M3D systems. We summarize the key ALD parameters (e.g., precursors, deposition temperature), as well as recent advances and remaining challenges in ALD‐enabled M3D transistors. Finally, we outline the future directions for ALD‐based transistors and their role in the broader trend toward multifunctional M3D integrated electronic systems.

Two promising ladder-type oligomers are synthesized by the Scholl reaction. The top-gate FET devices fabricated with the obtained oligomers as the semiconductor show excellent performance.

Since layered semiconductor tungsten diselenide (WSe2) has no dangling bond and a relatively large band gap, it is expected as a channel material for an application of field effect transistor (FET)[1]. On the other hand, high energy process destroys the crystal structure of the layered semiconductor. In this context, carrier doping by the low energy process is important for improving the electrical characteristics. This study reports that CYTOP (9 wt%) was applied as a doping material on the WSe2 FET for p-type operation by spin coating and the impact of contact doping on the electrical characteristics was investigated. A SiO2 gate dielectric was formed on a heavily-doped p-Si substrate (p+-Si) using thermal oxidation for back-gate structure. Next, a source / drain of Au (40 nm) / Ti (10 nm) was prepared by using photolithography and lift-off. Using a PDMS stamp and a micromanipulator, WSe2, which was mechanically peeled off using Scotch tape, was transferred between the source and drain to fabricate a back-gate WSe2 FET. After measuring the electrical characteristics without CYTOP, CYTOP was applied on the WSe2 FET surface using a spin coating. Then, the electrical characteristics with CYTOP were measured again. In this study, the annealing was performed for 30min at 200 ° C and 250 ° C. Id-Vg characteristics as a function of annealing temperature of the fabricated back gate WSe2 FET are shown in Fig. 1. From the Fig. 1, it can be confirmed that WSe2 FET shows p-type operation. Moreover, it can be confirmed that the drain current increases by applying the CYTOP, while the low drain current was observed without CYTOP. It was found that the drain current was increased with increasing the annealing temperature.[Acknowledgments]The authors would like to thank Professor Y. Kawano, Professor T. Hoshii, Professor I. Muneta, Professor K. Kakushima, Professor K. Tsutsui, and Professor H. Wakabayashi of Tokyo Institute of Technology for their continuous support in the experiments. This study was supported by JST CREST (Grant No. JPMJCR16F4) and a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (Grant No. 20K04616).[References][1] In-Tak Cho et al., Applied Physics Letters 106, 023504 (2015). Figure 1

Ge integrated on Si is a promising candidate for energy-efficient field effect transistor (FET) applications due to its high mobility and compatibility to CMOS technology. Nevertheless, using Ge in FET fabrication is challenging due to difficulties in controlling the transistor channel/gate oxide interface properties and suppressing crystal defects such as threading dislocations that arise from Ge integration on Si. Furthermore, the smaller bandgap of Ge compared to Si can give rise to higher band-to-band tunneling leakage currents [1-2]. All these challenges severely affect the on-state (Ion) and off-state (Ioff) currents. With respect to simulation, the majority of the physical models parameters are calibrated for Si. For Ge, the parameters are still less well known. In this work, we present the fabrication and characterization of vertical Ge-based p-channel Planar-Doped Barrier FETs (p-PDBFETs). Our experimental results are then used to calibrate our simulation model. Based on simulation data, an improved transistor design is proposed.

Graphene-based materials and their applications in electrolyte-gated transistors for sensing