ZnO composite nanolayer with mobility edge quantization for multi-value logic transistors

Lynn Lee,Kyeongjae Cho,Jiyoung Kim,Jae Won Jeong,Byoung Hun Lee,Kyung Rok Kim,Sungju Choi,Jinseon Park,Ho-In Lee,Dae Hwan Kim,Jin Won Jung,Nguyen Van Long,Sunwoo Heo,Jongchan Kim,Jeongwoon Hwang,Minho Yoon,Seongil Im,Myung Mo Sung

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09998-x

Abstract

A quantum confined transport based on a zinc oxide composite nanolayer that has conducting states with mobility edge quantization is proposed and was applied to develop multi-value logic transistors with stable intermediate states. A composite nanolayer with zinc oxide quantum dots embedded in amorphous zinc oxide domains generated quantized conducting states at the mobility edge, which we refer to as “mobility edge quantization”. The unique quantized conducting state effectively restricted the occupied number of carriers due to its low density of states, which enable current saturation. Multi-value logic transistors were realized by applying a hybrid superlattice consisting of zinc oxide composite nanolayers and organic barriers as channels in the transistor. The superlattice channels produced multiple states due to current saturation of the quantized conducting state in the composite nanolayers. Our multi-value transistors exhibited excellent performance characteristics, stable and reliable operation with no current fluctuation, and adjustable multi-level states.

Highlights

A quantum confined transport based on a zinc oxide composite nanolayer that has conducting states with mobility edge quantization is proposed and was applied to develop multivalue logic transistors with stable intermediate states
The resultant hybrid superlattice thin films with zinc oxide (ZnO) quantum wells were grown on substrates at low temperatures by repeated molecular layer deposition (MLD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) processes in the same reaction chamber
The conducting states with mobility edge quantization were realized via a composite nanolayer consisting of ZnO quantum dots (QDs) and amorphous ZnO domains, and this composite nanolayer was used to develop multi-value logic transistors with stable intermediate current states

Summary

Introduction

A quantum confined transport based on a zinc oxide composite nanolayer that has conducting states with mobility edge quantization is proposed and was applied to develop multivalue logic transistors with stable intermediate states. We report the discovery of a quantumconfined transport phenomenon based on a nanolayer composite of triaxially quantized quantum dots (QDs) embedded in an amorphous 2D layer, resulting in conducting states with mobility edge quantization. By combining composite nanolayers with organic barrier layers to form hybrid superlattices, we developed multi-value logic transistors with stable intermediates states. The multi-value transistors exhibited excellent performance characteristics, stable and reliable operation with no current fluctuations, and adjustable multi-states (e.g., binary, ternary, and quaternary) according to number of ZnO composite nanolayers in the superlattice channel

Methods

Results

Conclusion