Projects in Nanotechnology and MEMs at RIT
Nanoelectronics: The Integration of Si-based Resonant Tunnel Diode (RITD) with CMOS Technology
The 2001 edition of International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) predicted several emerging technologies that can provide near-term or low-risk solutions, and one of these is the RTD-FET (Resonant Tunneling Diodes - Field Effect Transistors). The incorporation of tunnel diodes into any FET technology is expected to significantly enhance circuit performance: higher circuit speed, reduced component count, and lowered power consumption.
RITD consists of a SiGe spacer layer (4 nm) sandwiched between two delta-doped layer, Phosphorus and Boron, each with thickness of 1 nm. These layers were grown using Low-Thermal Molecular Beam Expitaxy (LT-MBE) technique at ultra-high vacuum condition. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of an RITD exhibit a negative differential regime (NDR) which is the result of band-to-band quantum tunneling through the spacer layer. The following figure is the cross-sectional TEM micrograph of an RITD built partly at RIT with its corresponding I-V characteristics.
RIT team is lead by Dr. Santosh Kurinec, Dr. Sean Rommel, and Dr. Karl Hirschman. This project was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was done with collaboration with Dr. Paul Berger from the Ohio State University (OSU) and Dr. Philip Thompson from theNaval Research Laboratory (NRL). For more information on this project, click here.