Pespectives of TFET devices in ultra-low power charge pumps for thermo-electric energy sources

Cavalheiro, David; Moll, Francesc; Valtchev, Stanimir

doi:10.1109/iscas.2015.7168825

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…10 (a) a ring oscillator powered by the output of the rectifier is required for generating two non-overlapped clock signals that are applied to a multi-stage gate crosscoupled charge pump (GCCCP). In [16] it was shown by simulations that a TFET-based GCCCP can double its input voltage with magnitudes as low as 80 mV. In this work, the charge pump is required to charge the capacitor connected to the node Vddstartup.…”

Section: A Startup Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the bandto-band tunneling (BTBT) carrier injection mechanism, the TFET device presents a sub-threshold swing (SS) below 60 mV/dec (room temperature) and low leakage current [12][13][14]. These characteristics make this technology attractive for ultra-low voltage/power front-end rectifiers and switched capacitors, as shown by recent works [15][16][17]. The decrease of energy per switch also allows the design of more efficient digital cells when compared to conventional CMOS [18][19][20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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TFET-based Power-management Circuit for RF Energy Harvesting

Cavalheiro¹,

Moll²,

Valtchev³

2022

Ultra-Low Input Power Conversion Circuits Based on Tunnel-FETs

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This work proposes a Tunnel FET (TFET)-based Power Management Circuit (PMC) for ultra-low power RF energy harvesting applications. In contrast with conventional thermionic devices, the Band-to-Band Tunneling mechanism of TFETs allows a better switching performance at sub-0.2 V operation. As a result, improved efficiencies in RF-powered circuits are achieved, thanks to increased rectification performance at low power levels and to the reduced energy required for a proper power management circuit (PMC) operation. It is shown by simulations that heterojunction TFET devices designed with III-V materials can improve the rectification process at received power levels below -20 dBm (915 MHz) when compared to the application of homojunction III-V TFETs and Si FinFETs. For an available power of -25 dBm, the proposed converter is able to deliver 1.1 µW of average power (with 0.5 V) to the output load with a boost efficiency of 86 %.

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Section: A Startup Circuitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

TFET-based Power-management Circuit for RF Energy Harvesting

Cavalheiro¹,

Moll²,

Valtchev³

2022

Ultra-Low Input Power Conversion Circuits Based on Tunnel-FETs

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“…Benchmarking based on Si- and III–V-based state-of-the-art TFET devices with data published by various research groups. We have chosen to use data for SS vs I DS per unit width for both n-TFET (denoted by circle with solid line) and p-TFET (denoted by diamond with solid line) devices which have shown SS near or less than thermal limit (60 mV/dec) at room temperature. ,,,− …”

Section: Transition From Mosfets To Energy-efficient Tfet Devicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy-Efficient Tunneling Field-Effect Transistors for Low-Power Device Applications: Challenges and Opportunities

Nazir

Rehman

Park

2020

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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Conventional field-effect transistors (FETs) have long been considered a fundamental electronic component for a diverse range of devices. However, nanoelectronic circuits based on FETs are not energy efficient because they require a large supply voltage for switching applications. To reduce the supply voltage in standard FETs, which is hampered by the 60 mV/decade limit established by the subthreshold swing (SS), a new class of FETs have been designed, tunnel FETs (TFETs). A TFET utilizes charge-carrier transportation in device channels using quantum mechanical based band-to-band tunneling despite of conventional thermal injection. The TFETs fabricated with thin semiconducting film or nanowires can attain a 100-fold power drop compared to complementary metal−oxide−semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. As a result, the use of TFETs and CMOS technology together could ameliorate integrated circuits for low-power devices. The discovery of two-dimensional (2D) materials with a diverse range of electronic properties has also opened new gateways for condensed matter physics, nanotechnology, and material science, thus potentially improving TFET-based devices in terms of device design and performance. In this review, state-of-art TFET devices exhibiting different semiconducting channels and geometries are comprehensively reviewed followed by a brief discussion of the challenges that remain for the development of high-performance devices. Lastly, future prospects are presented for the improvement of device design and the working efficiency of TFETs.

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“…As an example, the work reported in [9] show improvements in the performance of TFET-based charge-pump converters compared to the application of the FinFET technology at sub-400 mV levels. In [10] we have shown that a gate crosscoupled charge-pump topology with TFETs powered by a thermogenerator presents a peak power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 74% for a temperature variation of 1 K (Vin=80 mV). In another work, the authors have shown similar PCE improvements in RF passive rectifiers based on TFETs for input power levels below -30 dBm (typical far-field ambient RF-power) [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights Into Tunnel FET-Based Charge Pumps and Rectifiers for Energy Harvesting Applications

Cavalheiro

Moll

Valtchev

2017

IEEE Trans. VLSI Syst.

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Abstract-In this work the electrical characteristics of Tunnel FET (TFET) devices are explored for energy harvesting frontend circuits with ultra-low power consumption. Compared to conventional thermionic technologies the improved electrical characteristics of TFET devices are expected to increase the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of front-end charge-pumps and rectifiers powered at sub-μW power levels. Under reverse bias conditions the TFET device presents particular electrical characteristics due to the different carrier injection mechanism. A negative differential resistance (NDR) is observed at low reverse bias and high drift diffusion (DD) current is observed at high reverse bias, thus degrading the efficiency of low-power front-end circuits and limiting their operation range. Therefore, in order to take full advantage of the TFET electrical characteristics in front-end energy harvesting circuits, different circuit approaches are required. In this work we propose and discuss different topologies for TFET-based charge-pumps and rectifiers for energy harvesting applications.Index Terms-Charge-Pump, Energy Harvesting, Passive Rectifier, Thermogenerator, Tunnel FET, Ultra-Low Power. I. INTRODUCTIONHE emerging Tunnel Field-Effect Transistor (TFET) has been considered an attractive alternative to replace conventional CMOS technologies in ultra-low power and energy efficient computing applications [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. In contrast to thermionic devices, the high energy filtering of the band -toband tunneling (BTBT) carrier injection mechanism characterizes the TFET device with a sub-threshold slope (SS) below 60 mV/dec (at room temperature) and lower leakage current.Simulation results show that TFET devices present better electrical characteristics than conventional technologies at sub-0.25 V operation [8]. On the other hand, TFETs conduct less current at voltages around 1 V, and thereby their use is envisioned for low voltage, low performance applications.T his paragraph of the first footnote will contain the date on which you submitted your paper for review. This work was supported by the Portuguese funding institution FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a T ecnologia) and Spanish Ministry of Economy (MINECO) and ERDF funds through project T EC2013-45638-C3-2-R (Maragda).D. Cavalheiro and F. Moll are with the Department of Electronic Engineering, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Jordi Girona, 31, 08034, Barcelona, francesc.moll@upc.edu).S. Valtchev is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, New University of Lisbon FCT , Quinta da T orre, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal (e-mail: ssv@fct.unl.pt).As energy harvesting transducers produce low output voltage values from typical ambient conditions with small temperature gradients (case of thermogenerators) and low RF power (antennas powered by electromagnetic radiation), energy conversion circuits are required to increase these values for use by the electronic systems . Under extreme low voltage scenarios, TFETs appear as an interesting device to implement the...

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Pespectives of TFET devices in ultra-low power charge pumps for thermo-electric energy sources

Cited by 14 publications

References 11 publications

TFET-based Power-management Circuit for RF Energy Harvesting

TFET-based Power-management Circuit for RF Energy Harvesting

Energy-Efficient Tunneling Field-Effect Transistors for Low-Power Device Applications: Challenges and Opportunities

Insights Into Tunnel FET-Based Charge Pumps and Rectifiers for Energy Harvesting Applications

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