TCAD simulation for capture / emission of carriers by traps in SiN: trap-assisted tunneling model extended for capture of carriers injected via Fowler-Nordheim tunneling

We propose the novel trap-assisted tunneling (TAT) model that incorporates the ability to calculate dissipation of the kinetic energy of carriers propagating in the conduction or valence band. The proposed model allows us to evaluate capture efficiency (or the capture cross section) of carriers injected into the SiN charge trap layer via Fowler-Nordheim tunneling. By applying our TAT model to large planar Metal-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Semiconductor (MONOS) capacitors, experimental data showing that electron capture efficiency depends on the tunnel oxide thickness are physically interpreted. Furthermore, 3-dimensional technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulation using SiN trap parameters roughly extracted from planar MONOS data shows that the calculated incremental step pulse programming characteristics of the charge trap memory (CTM) prototype device are comparable with measured data. We have found that additional time to calculate SiN trap charges is less than only 5 % of all remaining calculation time.

Investigation of Base Transport Mechanism in Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor Operating over Wide Temperature Range

A high breakdown voltage silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor operated over a wide temperature range from 300 K to 10 K has been investigated. The measured Gummel characteristics illustrate that the collector current and base current both shift to the higher voltage as the temperature decreases. The fT/fmax are extracted to be 23/40 GHz at 300K, 28/40 GHz at 90 K, and 25/37GHz at 10K, respectively. The effective amplification range becomes narrow as the temperature decreases. And the ideality factor of base current in the low current region is shown to be temperature-dependent and its value is much larger than 2 at cryogenic temperatures. This phenomenon indicates that the base current is not only contributed by drift, diffusion, and Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, but also by trap-assisted tunneling. The Hurkx local trap-assisted tunneling has been used to analyze the non-ideal base transport mechanism. And a calibrated TCAD device model is developed to further verify this non-ideal transport mechanism.

Accurate Modeling Methodology of Laterally Diffused Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Leakage Current for Electro-Static Discharge Protection Circuit Design

A modeling method using juncap2 physical compact model with SRH (Shockley-Read-Hall), TAT (Trap-Assisted-Tunneling), BBT (Band-to-Band Tunneling) effects is presented for the leakage current in a laterally diffused metal-oxide semiconductor (LDMOS). The juncap2 model is successfully combined with BSIM4 model and it is validated with measurement data. The model accurately predicts the leakage current characteristics for the entire bias region and temperature.

Gradually Tunable Conductance in TiO2/Al2O3 Bilayer Resistors for Synaptic Device

In this work, resistive switching and synaptic behaviors of a TiO2/Al2O3 bilayer device were studied. The deposition of Pt/Ti/TiO2/Al2O3/TiN stack was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy X-ray dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The initial state before the forming process followed Fowler-Nordheim (FN) tunneling. A strong electric field was applied to Al2O3 with a large energy bandgap for FN tunneling, which was confirmed by the I-V fitting process. Bipolar resistive switching was conducted by the set process in a positive bias and the reset process in a negative bias. High-resistance state (HRS) followed the trap-assisted tunneling (TAT) model while low-resistance state (LRS) followed the Ohmic conduction model. Set and reset operations were verified by pulse. Moreover, potentiation and depression in the biological synapse were verified by repetitive set pulses and reset pulses. Finally, the device showed good pattern recognition accuracy (~88.8%) for a Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) handwritten digit database in a single layer neural network including the conductance update of the device.

Experimental and Modeling Study on the High-Performance p++-GaAs/n++-GaAs Tunnel Junctions with Silicon and Tellurium Co-Doped InGaAs Quantum Well Inserted

The development of high-performance tunnel junctions is critical for achieving high efficiency in multi-junction solar cells (MJSC) that can operate at high concentrations. We investigate silicon and tellurium co-doping of InGaAs quantum well inserts in p++-GaAs/n++-GaAs tunnel junctions and report a peak current density as high as 5839 A cm−2 with a series resistance of 5.86 × 10−5 Ω cm2. In addition, we discuss how device performance is affected by the growth temperature, thickness, and V/III ratio in the InGaAs layer. A simulation model indicates that the contribution of trap-assisted tunneling enhances carrier tunneling.

Numerical Study of Sub-Gap Density of States Dependent Electrical Characteristics in Amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O Thin-Film Transistors

We demonstrate the effect of the sub-gap density of states (DOS) on electrical characteristics in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc (IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). Numerical analysis based on a two-dimensional device simulator Atlas controlled the sub-gap DOS parameters such as tail acceptor-like states, tail donor-like states, Gauss acceptor-like states, and Gauss donor-like states in amorphous IGZO TFTs. We confirm accuracy by exploiting physical factors, such as oxygen vacancy, peroxide, hydrogen complex, band-to-band tunneling, and trap-assisted tunneling. Consequently, the principal electrical parameters, such as the threshold voltage, saturation mobility, sub-threshold swing, and on-off current ratio, are effectively tuned by controlling sub-gap DOS distribution in a-IGZO TFTs.

Emulation of Biological Synapse Characteristics from Cu/AlN/TiN Conductive Bridge Random Access Memory

Here, we present the synaptic characteristics of AlN-based conductive bridge random access memory (CBRAM) as a synaptic device for neuromorphic systems. Both non-volatile and volatile memory are observed by simply controlling the strength of the Cu filament inside the AlN film. For non-volatile switching induced by high compliance current (CC), good retention with a strong Cu metallic filament is verified. Low-resistance state (LRS) and high-resistance state (HRS) conduction follow metallic Ohmic and trap-assisted tunneling (TAT), respectively, which are supported by I–V fitting and temperature dependence. The transition from long-term plasticity (LTP) to short-term plasticity (STP) is demonstrated by increasing the pulse interval time for synaptic device application. Also, paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) in the nervous system is mimicked by sending two identical pulses to the CBRAM device to induce STP. Finally, potentiation and depression are achieved by gradually increasing the set and reset voltage in pulse transient mode.

1/f noise model based on trap-assisted tunneling for ultra-thin oxides MOSFETs

<div>We derive an analytical model for 1/f noise in MOSFETs, highlighting a term that is often neglected in literature but becomes important for ultra-thin oxides. Furthermore, we identify an interesting relationship between the thermal noise of the gate impedance and the gate noise due to trapping/detrapping between the free carriers in the channel and the oxide traps, as well as the 1/f noise cross-correlation between drain and gate, showing that a single voltage noise generator is not enough to describe completely the 1/f noise. TCAD simulations are used to verify the model predictive capabilities.</div>