Active solid-state devices (e.g. – transistors – solid-state diode – Thin active physical layer which is – Tunneling through region of reduced conductivity
Patent
1991-11-20
1994-03-01
Hille, Rolf
Active solid-state devices (e.g., transistors, solid-state diode
Thin active physical layer which is
Tunneling through region of reduced conductivity
257 35, 257 39, 257565, 505702, H01L 2906, H01L 3922
Patent
active
052912744
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention generally relates to electron devices, and in particular to an electron device having a dielectric channel layer for conducting carriers therethrough, wherein the flow of carriers is controlled in response to a control voltage applied to the dielectric layer.
In the field of information processing such as computers, transistors and diodes are the essential devices. Transistors carry out for various switching or amplification operations and are used for various logic circuits. Diodes, on the other hand, are used for various current rectifications and signal detections. Further, diodes showing the steeply changing resistance in response to the polarity of applied signals, are used for various switching devices of computers and other electronic apparatuses. Thus, the improvement of operational characteristics of the transistors directly influences the improvement of operation of the information processing system. Similarly, the development of diodes that can operate at low signal amplitude will contribute to the development of a telecommunication system or radar system that has an increased sensitivity.
BACKGROUND ART
Generally, transistors are formed from semiconductor materials such as silicon, germanium, or various compound semiconductor materials, and various transistors have been proposed so far.
FIGS. 1 through 12 show the examples of conventional transistors and diodes, wherein FIGS. 1 and 2 show the structure and the band structure of a typical bipolar transistor.
Referring to FIG. 1, the bipolar transistor includes an n-type emitter 11 surrounded by a p-type base 12, and a collector 13 surrounds the base 12 including the emitter 11. Under the collector 13, an n.sup.+ -type buried collector region 14 is formed, and the collector current obtained at the collector 13 is lead to the surface of the structure via the buried collector region 14 and further through an n.sup.+ -type contact region 15. Further, a substrate 16 of p-type silicon supports the foregoing vertical bipolar transistor structure. In correspondence to the emitter region 11, base region 12 and the collector contact region 15, an emitter electrode 17, a base electrode 18 and a collector electrode 19 are formed. As is commonly practiced, such bipolar transistor is formed by combining p-type and n-type silicon layers.
FIG. 2 shows the band structure of the bipolar transistor of FIG. 1. As can be seen therein, the n-type emitter region 11 has electrons, shown by solid circles in the drawing, in the conduction band as the carriers. On the other hand, the p-type base region 12 has holes, shown by open circles in the drawing, in the valence band thereof as the carriers. Further, the n-type collector region 13 has the electrons, also shown by the solid circles in the drawing, in the conduction band thereof as the carriers.
In operation, the base voltage at the base region 11 is controlled by the voltage that is applied to the base electrode 18. When a positive base voltage is applied, for example, the energy level of the base region 12 shifts in the downward direction. In response to such a downward shift of the base energy level, the potential barrier that has been formed by the conduction band of the base region 12 between the emitter region 11 and the collector region 13 substantially disappears. When this occurs, the electrons are injected from the emitter region 11 to the base region 12 and are transported through the base region 12 by the diffusion of the minority carriers. Thereby, the injected carriers reach the collector region 13 and a collector current flows through the transistor.
In such a bipolar transistor, the operational speed is mainly limited by the transit time of the carriers passing through the base region 12. Thus, in order to increase the operational speed of bipolar transistors, it is desired to form the base region by a semiconductor material having a high electron mobility. Alternately, the thickness of the base region 12 may be reduced for reducing the transit time of electron
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patent: 4630081 (1986-12-01), Calviello
patent: 4752812 (1988-06-01), Arienzo et al.
patent: 5106822 (1992-04-01), Tamura
Fujitsu Limited
Hille Rolf
Loke Steven
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