[paper] A Review of Sharp-Switching Band-Modulation Devices

Sorin Cristoloveanu¹, Joris Lacord², Sébastien Martinie², Carlos Navarro³, Francisco Gamiz³, Jing Wan⁴, Hassan El Dirani¹, Kyunghwa Lee¹ and Alexander Zaslavsky⁵

A Review of Sharp-Switching Band-Modulation Devices

Micromachines 2021, 12, 1540.

DOI: 10.3390/mi12121540

   
1 IMEP-LAHC, Université Grenoble Alpes (F)
2 CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus (F)
3 CITIC-UGR, University of Granada (SP)
4 Fudan University, Shanghai (CN)
5 Brown University, Providence (US)

Abstract: This paper reviews the recently-developed class of band-modulation devices, born from the recent progress in fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) and other ultrathin-body technologies, which have enabled the concept of gate-controlled electrostatic doping. In a lateral PIN diode, two additional gates can construct a reconfigurable PNPN structure with unrivalled sharp-switching capability. We describe the implementation, operation, and various applications of these band-modulation devices. Physical and compact models are presented to explain the output and transfer characteristics in both steady-state and transient modes. Not only can band-modulation devices be used for quasi-vertical current switching, but they also show promise for compact capacitorless memories, electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, sensing, and reconfigurable circuits, while retaining full compatibility with modern silicon processing and standard room-temperature low-voltage operation.

Fig: Average subthreshold swing SS vs. normalized ION plot. 

Green points indicate CMOS-compatible materials.

Acknowledgements: The European authors are grateful for support from the EU project REMINDER (H2020-687931). Alexander Zaslavsky acknowledges the support of the U.S. National Science Foundation (award QII-TACS-1936221).