Electron aspirator using electron–electron scattering in nanoscale silicon

Abstract

Current enhancement without increasing the input power is a critical issue to be pursued for electronic circuits. However, drivability of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors is limited by the source-injection current, and electrons that have passed through the source unavoidably waste their momentum to the phonon bath. Here, we propose the Si electron-aspirator, a nanometer-scaled MOS device with a T-shaped branch, to go beyond this limit. The device utilizes the hydrodynamic nature of electrons due to the electron–electron scattering, by which the injected hot electrons transfer their momentum to cold electrons before they relax with the phonon bath. This momentum transfer induces an electron flow from the grounded side terminal without additional power sources. The operation is demonstrated by observing the output-current enhancement by a factor of about 3 at 8 K, which reveals that the electron–electron scattering can govern the electron transport in nanometer-scaled MOS devices, and increase their effective drivability.

First-principles study on barrier height of silicon emission from interface into oxide during silicon thermal oxidation

“…MOSFETs are used in all Si-related electronic devices such as logic, memory, analog and imaging devices, and thus control of the MOS interface is important in modern technology. Moreover, promising future devices, such as vertical body-channel MOSFETs, 1) electronic fluid effect devices 2) and Si qubits for quantum computing, [3][4][5] also employ a MOS interface. In recent years, oxides other than Si thermal oxide have often been used in MOS structures, but a MOS interface where the Si oxide is formed by Si thermal oxidation is fundamental.…”

Critical conductance of two-dimensional electron gas in silicon-on-insulator metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor

“…4) Therefore, it is important to understand the low-temperature conductance properties of SOI MOSFETs. [4][5][6][7][8][9] In this letter, the low temperature conductance of SOI MOSFETs is investigated from the viewpoint of the metal insulator transition (MIT), one of the fundamental issues of two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs).…”