Nearly Ballistic Electron Transport in an Out-of-Plane Nanoscale Defect-Void Channel

Abstract

Future nanoelectronics will require a high packing density of semiconductor devices so that electrons can be transported at speeds approaching their ultimate limit while operating at low power. Herein, we employ high-voltage pulses to create a nanoscale defect-void channel in an oxide to conduct an out-of-plane electron current from 2-D electron gas in a p-Si substrate to a metal electrode of metal–oxide–semiconductor structure. With this approach, we exploit the advantage of changes in the SiO2/Si structure after oxide breakdown and carrier transport properties to increase device performance. The electrical characteristics of the two-terminal device indicate ballistic electron transport in the nanochannel, providing potential energy-efficient and high-speed (in the picosecond regime) applications for computing systems and logic circuits with low-cost fabrication. Space-charge-limited current models offer physical insights into the formation of nanochannels containing a combination of free space and dielectric solid. Hot carrier injection in the nanochannel also provides an understanding of the defect physics via atomic luminescence and localized surface topography, as well as substantial insights via optical emission spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy into how defects rearrange themselves locally when their electronic state changes.