Sub-Threshold Electron Mobility in SOI-MESFETs

T. Khan, D. Vasileska and T.J. Thornton
Arizona State University, US

Keywords: Schottky junction transistor, SJT, subthreshold conduction, micropower

Abstract:
Micropower circuits use subthreshold MOSFETs that consume minimal power resulting from the combination of ultra-low drain currents (10-11 < Id < 10-5 A/µm) and small drain voltages required for saturation (Vd sat ~150-200mV). Unfortunately, sub-threshold CMOS is a slow technology, with micropower circuits limited to operating frequencies below ~ 1MHz. To achieve higher sub-threshold operating frequencies, we have proposed a Schottky Junction Transistor (SJT) [1] as an alternative to sub-threshold MOSFET devices. It adopts a MESFET architecture and exhibits higher electron mobility. The enhanced MESFET mobility leads to a corresponding increase in the cut-off frequency fT compared to a similar gate length MOSFET carrying the same amount of current

Nanotech 2004 Conference Technical Program Abstract