Demonstration of L-Shaped Tunnel Field-Effect Transistors

An L-shaped tunnel FET (TFET), which features band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) perpendicular to the channel direction, is experimentally demonstrated for the first time. It is more scalable than other vertical-BTBT-based TFET designs and provides more than1000×higher ON-current (I_ ON) than a conventional planar TFET with the same gate overdrive (Vₒᵥ) of 0.8 V, due to improved subthreshold swing (S) and larger tunnel junction area. Its temperature dependence, constantS, and nonlinear output characteristics are discussed.