Analysis and mitigation of negative differential re-sistance effects with hetero-gate dielectric layer in negative-capacitance field-effect transistors

Abstract

Negative-capacitance field-effect transistors (NCFETs) show promise as low-power devices for the next-generation. However, the negative differential resistance (NDR) effects are inherent in NCFET and adversely affect the design of integrated devices and circuits. In this study, a hetero-gate dielectric NCFET (HGD-NCFET) is proposed and investigated. The HGD-NCFET is formed by partially replacing the ferroelectric layer of NCFET with a high-dielectric constant (high-κ) material on the drain side to inhibit its NDR effects. The Sentaurus technology computer-aided design simulations demonstrate that the out conductance (G_DS), which is used to quantify the NDR effects, increases monotonously as a function of the length of high-κ material (L_HK), and G_DS eventually tends to zero in HGD-NCFET. In addition, the other electrical parameters of the HGD-NCFET remained almost unchanged compared with those of the original NCFET.