Self-Aligned InGaAs Quantum-Well MOSFETs

The increasing difficulty of Si to support the historical rate of progress of CMOS scaling known as Moore’s Law has prompted the search for alternative channel materials with enhanced transport characteristics. Among possible candidates, InGaAs has recently emerged as a leading contender for n-channel MOSFETs. This is because of its outstanding electron transport characteristics. Our group is investigating transistor architectures to exploit the unique properties of InGaAs. We have innovated a self-aligned process that is entirely based on Si-compatible materials and processes and that has resulted in the most compact and highest performing scaled InGaAs transistor demonstrations in the literature. Using these devices, we have recently carried out a detailed vertical and lateral scaling study. These very tight transistor designs have revealed for the first time the role of band-to-band tunneling and gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) in the off-state characteristics of these devices.