In the quest for higher performance, the dimensions of field-effect transistors (FETs) continue to decrease. However, the reduction in size of FETs comprising 3D semiconductors is limited by the rate at which heat, generated from static power, is dissipated. The increase in static power and the leakage of current between the source and drain electrodes that causes this increase, are referred to as short-channel effects. In FETs with channels made from 2D semiconductors, leakage current is almost eliminated because all electrons are confined in atomically thin channels and, hence, are uniformly influenced by the gate voltage. In this Review, we provide a mathematical framework to evaluate the performance of FETs and describe the challenges for improving the performances of short-channel FETs in relation to the properties of 2D materials, including graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, phosphorene and silicene. We also describe tunnelling FETs that possess extremely low-power switching behaviour and explain how they can be realized using heterostructures of 2D semiconductors. Field-effect transistors (FETs) with semiconducting channels made from 2D materials are known to have fewer problems with short-channel effects than devices comprising 3D semiconductors. In this Review, a mathematical framework to evaluate the performance of FETs is outlined with a focus on the properties of 2D materials, such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, phosphorene and silicene.

Two-dimensional semiconductors for transistors

Terahertz technology promises myriad applications including imaging, spectroscopy and communications. However, one major bottleneck at present for advancing this field is the lack of efficient devices to manipulate the terahertz electromagnetic waves. Here we demonstrate that exceptionally efficient broadband modulation of terahertz waves at room temperature can be realized using graphene with extremely low intrinsic signal attenuation. We experimentally achieved more than 2.5 times superior modulation than prior broadband intensity modulators, which is also the first demonstrated graphene-based device enabled solely by intraband transitions. The unique advantages of graphene in comparison to conventional semiconductors are the ease of integration and the extraordinary transport properties of holes, which are as good as those of electrons owing to the symmetric conical band structure of graphene. Given recent progress in graphene-based terahertz emitters and detectors, graphene may offer some interesting solutions for terahertz technologies.

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Broadband graphene terahertz modulators enabled by intraband transitions

Gallium nitride (GaN) is a compound semiconductor that has tremendous potential to facilitate economic growth in a semiconductor industry that is silicon-based and currently faced with diminishing returns of performance versus cost of investment. At a material level, its high electric field strength and electron mobility have already shown tremendous potential for high frequency communications and photonic applications. Advances in growth on commercially viable large area substrates are now at the point where power conversion applications of GaN are at the cusp of commercialisation. The future for building on the work described here in ways driven by specific challenges emerging from entirely new markets and applications is very exciting. This collection of GaN technology developments is therefore not itself a road map but a valuable collection of global state-of-the-art GaN research that will inform the next phase of the technology as market driven requirements evolve. First generation production devices are igniting large new markets and applications that can only be achieved using the advantages of higher speed, low specific resistivity and low saturation switching transistors. Major investments are being made by industrial companies in a wide variety of markets exploring the use of the technology in new circuit topologies, packaging solutions and system architectures that are required to achieve and optimise the system advantages offered by GaN transistors. It is this momentum that will drive priorities for the next stages of device research gathered here.

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The 2018 GaN power electronics roadmap

J. Y. Tsao,* S. Chowdhury, M. A. Hollis,* D. Jena, N. M. Johnson, K. A. Jones, R. J. Kaplar,* S. Rajan, C. G. Van de Walle, E. Bellotti, C. L. Chua, R. Collazo, M. E. Coltrin, J. A. Cooper, K. R. Evans, S. Graham, T. A. Grotjohn, E. R. Heller, M. Higashiwaki, M. S. Islam, P. W. Juodawlkis, M. A. Khan, A. D. Koehler, J. H. Leach, U. K. Mishra, R. J. Nemanich, R. C. N. Pilawa-Podgurski, J. B. Shealy, Z. Sitar, M. J. Tadjer, A. F. Witulski, M. Wraback, and J. A. Simmons

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Ultrawide-Bandgap Semiconductors: Research Opportunities and Challenges

In this paper, we report state-of-the-art high frequency performance of GaN-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) and Schottky diodes achieved through innovative device scaling technologies such as vertically scaled enhancement and depletion mode (E/D mode) AlN/GaN/AlGaN double-heterojunction HEMT epitaxial structures, a low-resistance n+-GaN/2DEG ohmic contact regrown by MBE, a manufacturable 20-nm symmetric and asymmetric self-aligned-gate process, and a lateral metal/2DEG Schottky contact. As a result of proportional scaling of intrinsic and parasitic delays, an ultrahigh fT exceeding 450 GHz (with a simultaneous fmax of 440 GHz) and a fmax close to 600 GHz (with a simultaneous fT of 310 GHz) are obtained in deeply scaled GaN HEMTs while maintaining superior Johnson figure of merit. Because of their extremely low on-resistance and high gain at low drain voltages, the devices exhibited excellent noise performance at low power. 501-stage direct-coupled field-effect transistor logic ring oscillator circuits are successfully fabricated with high yield and high uniformity, demonstrating the feasibility of GaN-based E/D-mode integrated circuits with transistors. Furthermore, self-aligned GaN Schottky diodes with a lateral metal/2DEG Schottky contact and a 2DEG/ n+-GaN ohmic contact exhibited RC-limited cutoff frequencies of up to 2.0 THz.

Scaling of GaN HEMTs and Schottky Diodes for Submillimeter-Wave MMIC Applications

We report 30-nm-gate-length InAlN/AlN/GaN/SiC high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) with a record current gain cutoff frequency (fT) of 370 GHz. The HEMT without back barrier exhibits an extrinsic transconductance (gm.ext) of 650 mS/mm and an on/off current ratio of 106 owing to the incorporation of dielectric-free passivation and regrown ohmic contacts with a contact resistance of 0.16 Ω·mm. Delay analysis suggests that the high fT is a result of low gate-drain parasitics associated with the rectangular gate. Although it appears possible to reach 500-GHz fT by further reducing the gate length, it is imperative to investigate alternative structures that offer higher mobility/velocity while keeping the best possible electrostatic control in ultrascaled geometry.

InAlN/AlN/GaN HEMTs With Regrown Ohmic Contacts and $f_{T}$ of 370 GHz

Having a drain current density of 1.9 A/mm, a peak extrinsic transconductance of 800 mS/mm (the highest reported in III-nitride transistors), ft/fmax of 70/105 GHz, and Vbr of 29 V, 150-nm-gate enhancement-mode InAlN/AlN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors are demonstrated on SiC substrates using plasma-based gate-recess etch. The possible plasma-induced damage in the gate region was investigated using interface-trap states extracted from temperature-dependent subthreshold slopes.

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Gate-Recessed Enhancement-Mode InAlN/AlN/GaN HEMTs With 1.9-A/mm Drain Current Density and 800-mS/mm Transconductance

Nonalloyed ohmic contacts regrown by molecular beam epitaxy were made on InAlN/AlN/GaN/SiC high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). Transmission-line-method measurements were carried out from 4 K to 350 K. Although the total contact resistance is dominated by the metal/ n+-GaN resistance ( ~ 0.16 Ω·mm), the resistance induced by the interface between the regrown n+ GaN and HEMT channel is found to be 0.05-0.075 Ω·mm over the entire temperature window, indicating a minimal barrier for electron flow at the as-regrown interface. The quantum contact resistance theory suggests that the interface resistance can be further reduced to be <; 0.02 Ω·mm in GaN HEMTs.

https://www3.nd.edu/~hxing/research/pdfs/12-edl-Guo-MBE%20regrown%20contacts%20in%20GaN%20HEMTs.pdf

MBE-Regrown Ohmics in InAlN HEMTs With a Regrowth Interface Resistance of 0.05 $\Omega\cdot\hbox{mm}$

A model based on optical phonon scattering is developed to explain peculiarities in the current drive, transconductance, and high-speed behavior of short-gate-length GaN transistors. The model is able to resolve these peculiarities and provides a simple way to explain transistor behavior in any semiconductor material system in which electron-optical-phonon scattering is strong.

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Effect of Optical Phonon Scattering on the Performance of GaN Transistors

Lattice-matched depletion-mode InAlN/AlN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on a SiC substrate were fabricated, for the first time, with a dielectric-free passivation (DFP) process in which the device access region was treated by O2/Ar plasma. Similar to dielectric passivation using SiN and Al2O3, the plasma treatment can effectively shorten the gate-length extension. As a result, the current gain cutoff frequency fT of a 60-nm rectangular-gate HEMT increased from 125 to 210 GHz after the plasma DFP; this RF performance is among the highest reported fT for GaN-based HEMTs. The device showed a dc drain current density of 2.1 A/mm and a peak extrinsic transconductance of 487 mS/mm after DFP. The Lg-fTproduct of 12.6 GHz ·μm is among the highest reported for a gate-physical-length-to-barrier-thickness aspect ratio of 5.6. Small gate lag and drain lag are observed in pulsed I-V measurements with a 300-ns pulsewidth.

/pdf/210-ghz-inaln-gan-hemts-with-dielectric-free-passivation-3e7asq3vvs.pdf

Ronghua Wang

Papers

InAlN/AlN/GaN HEMTs With Regrown Ohmic Contacts and $f_{T}$ of 370 GHz

Gate-Recessed Enhancement-Mode InAlN/AlN/GaN HEMTs With 1.9-A/mm Drain Current Density and 800-mS/mm Transconductance

MBE-Regrown Ohmics in InAlN HEMTs With a Regrowth Interface Resistance of 0.05 $\Omega\cdot\hbox{mm}$

Effect of Optical Phonon Scattering on the Performance of GaN Transistors

210-GHz InAlN/GaN HEMTs With Dielectric-Free Passivation