Analysis of Metal Work-Function Modulation Effect in Reconfigurable Field-Effect Transistor

Work-function modulation in a reconfigurable field-effect transistor (RFET) is investigated by 3-D TCAD simulations. A significant work-function dependence is found in the critical electrical performances of RFET. The results show that the ON-state drive current ION is mainly dominated by the control gate (CG) and source work function, while the OFF-state leakage current IOFF is dominated by program gate and drain work function. With the workfunction regulation, more flexible electrical characteristics among both n- and p-type configurations can be obtained, and an RFET with strict symmetric ON-state current and ION/IOFFratio, that is, (ION)n: (ION)p= (IOFF)n: (IOFF)p= 1 : 1, has been realized in this work. The underlying physical mechanism is explored, and the corresponding performance of the application in logic and memory is discussed. Moreover, the work-function regulation in CG and source can be recognized as an effective method to subtle tweak noise margin of electrical systems.