Negative-resistance field-effect transistor grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

Results of studying the process of real space hot electron transfer in the Negative-Resistance Field-Effect Transistor (NERFET) grown by organometallic chemical vapor deposition (OMCVD) are presented. In the modified AlGaAs/GaAs heterostructure we obtain a significant reduction in the parasitic leakage and a drastic improvement of negative differential resistance (NDR) in the drain circuit—with the peak-to-valley current ratio as high as 160 at room temperature. The effect of NDR is proved to be due to real-space transfer of hot electrons from the high mobility channel into the second conducting layer, with the current of transferred electrons depending exponentially on the second conducting layer potential. Analysis shows that the same device can operate as a Charge-Injection Transistor with an available power gain of about 5.