Resonant Tunneling Diodes

(RTDs)

Ni, Man
EE 666
Advanced Electronic Devices
April 26, 2005
 Outline

Introduction
RTD basics
RTDs in different material systems
III-V
IV, II-VI, etc.
Molecular RTDs
RITDs (Resonant Interband Tunneling Diodes)
Applications
High-frequency oscillator
Digital applications (HBT, HEMT, CMOS)
RTTs (Resonant Tunneling Transistors)
Conclusion
 Why RTDs?

Intrinsic bistability and high-speed switching

capability (e.g., 1 ps switch, fmax~1 THz)
Low power consumption
Small device footprint
Increased functionality
 What is an RTD?

RTD: Two potential barrier sandwiching a well

region.
How does an RTD work?

Peak current density: IP=ION

Peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR)
= ION/IVALLEY
 Valley Current

Theory underestimates valley current

I because of:
IP (i) scattering by phonons and impurities
(ii) extra tunneling via impurity states in the
barriers

IV (iii) tunneling via X and L states

(iv) disorder in alloy barriers
V (v) interface steps and roughness
III-V RTDs

GaAs family
AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs
InP family (IP=500 kA/cm2, PVCR=52)
InGaAs/AlAs/InAs
 RTDs in other materials systems

IV
Si0.7Ge0.3/Si/Si0.7Ge0.3 on a relaxed Si0.7Ge0.3 bufffer layer
PVCR=1.2 due to the low conduction-band offsets (< 0.5 eV)
II-VI
HgCdTe/HgTe
PVCR=1.4
Mixed Crystalline
MnTe/InSb/MnTe, PVCR=1.7 at 77 K
CaF2/CoSi2, PVCR=2
AlAs/ErAs/AlAs on GaAs substrate
Amorphous
SiO2/Si/SiO2, Si3N4/Si/Si3N4
SiC/Si/SiC, PVCR=9.4
 Molecular RTDs

Small (~1.5 nm): ultra-dense IC

Natural nanometer-scale structure: identical
in vast quantities

James C. Ellenbogen, A brief overview of nanoelectronic devices

 Resonant Interband Tunneling
Diodes (RITDs)
A hybrid of RTD and Esaki diode
Type II heterojunction RITD
p-n type I heterojunction double quantum well RITD
Type II heterojunction RITD

Electron
injection
 RITDs

p-n type I heterojunction double quantum well

RITD

PVCR = 144
H. H. Tsai, et al., IEEE EDL, Vol. 15, no. 9, Sep. 1994
 Applications

Oscillator ------ NDR

Digital Logic ------ Bistability
 Applications Oscillator

LC Oscillator

L L R L R -R
C C C

Rtot =
Ideal Case Real Case One-port Oscillator

w = 1/ LC w = 1/ LC
 Applications Digital Logic

Logic circuits ------ Bistability

Integration with transistors (HEMT, HBT, CMOS) is a
requirement for a complete IC technology based on RTDs
Transitors: Input/output isolation, controllable gain
RTDs: increased functionality, enhanced circuit speed, reduced
power consumption
Its all about Load lines!
 Inverter

VDD
I I

VIN=LO
VOUT=HI
VOUT
VIN
VIN=HI VOUT
VOUT=LO

Concept: A digital inverter cell with a low on-state current for low
static power dissipation
Evaluation: The low on-state current also reduces the switching
speed because the current stays low until the RTD again reaches
resonance
 Memory cell

VRTD
IRTD
Write Read RTD2 RTD1
Select Select
RTD1
Write Read
Data Data

Storage
Node IRTD
RTD2
VLO VHI VRTD
Storage Node
Concept: A static memory cell with a low device count and low static
power dissipation
Evaluation: Works and is fast, the difficulty is making RTDs
reproducibly and integrating them with IC process
 Multivalued Logic

I
Voltage R
VOUT

I RTD1

RTD2
VOUT
There is some difference between the two devices such
that they reach the peak current at different applied
biases.
 RTD/Transistor Monolithic IC

RTD-HEMT

J. Hontschel, et al.
 RTD/Transistor Monolithic IC

RTD-HBT

S. Thomas III, et al., J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 18(5), Sep/Oct 2000

 RTD-CMOS

Substantial improvement in speed, power dissipation,

and circuit complexity over CMOS only circuits.
A hybrid integration process for RTD to be transferred
and bonded to CMOS

J. I. Bergman, et al., IEEE EDL, Vol. 20, no. 3, March 1999

 RTD-CMOS

A 1-bit RTD/CMOS comparator:

A 1-bit conventional CMOS 6 devices
comparator: 18 devices
J. I. Bergman, et al., EDL, 1999
Resonant Tunneling Transistors (RTTs)

Three-terminal (RTTs) vs two-terminal (RTDs)

Enhanced isolation between input and output
Higher circuit gain
Greater fan-out capacity
Greater Versatility in circuit functionality
Better suited for large circuits than RTD-only circuits
Emitter
Base Base

Collector Collector
 Multivalued RTTs

Different quantum levels: different current peaks in I-V

Square well: not evenly spaced
Parabolic well: energy levels and the corresponding current peaks are
all evenly spaced
Difficult to make the multiple peaks of comparable magnitude
 Multivalued RTTs

Double-barrier structure in Emitter region

Federico Capasso, et al., IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, Vol. 36, no. 10, Oct. 1989
Promising Future