Theoretical study of piezotronic metal–insulator–semiconductor tunnel devices

Abstract

Piezotronics has been an emerging concept coupling piezoelectric and semiconducting properties with potential applications in sensors, flexible electronics and nanoelectromechanical systems. Piezoelectric field is created under an applied strain, which controls the carrier generation, transport, separation or recombination processes at the interface or junction of the semiconductor devices. Based on the piezotronic theory, we present a 1D model for the metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) tunnel diode based on the piezoelectric semiconductor. Analytical solutions of piezoelectric modulated tunneling are described to reveal the piezotronic effect on the MIS tunnel junction. A numerical simulation of the carrier transport properties is provided for demonstrating the piezotronic effect on MIS tunnel devices.