Low temperature tunneling transistor
US4675711A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 15, 1985 |
| Grant date | Jun 23, 1987 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 15, 2005 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10D30/00
Abstract
The transistor comprises two electrodes, (source (22) and drain (23), with a semiconductor tunnel channel (21A, 21B) arranged therebetween. A gate (24) for applying control signals is coupled to the channel. The semiconductor channel consists of a plurality of regions differing in their current transfer characteristics: contact regions (21c), connected to the source and drain electrodes, and a tunneling region (21t) arranged between the contact regions. The energy of free carriers in the contact regions differs from the energy of the conduction band or the valence band of the tunneling region which forms a low energy tunnel barrier the height (.DELTA.E) of which can be modified by control signals applied to the gate. The operating temperature of the device is kept sufficiently low to have the tunnel current through the barrier outweigh currents of thermionically excited carriers.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.