Room temperature nonlinear ballistic nanodevices for logic applications

Abstract

Ballistic transport appears when the size of electronic devices is reduced below the electron mean free path. By using latest fabrication techniques and proper material system, the ballistic behavior can be achieved in nano-scale devices even at room temperature (RT). In [1], Song has presented a ballistic rectifier which demonstrates the nonlinear transport at RT. However, the functionality of this device was constraint to rectification only. Using this well established theory, and to extend the functionality beyond rectification, our group proposed a novel device in which we added two in-plane strategically placed gates as shown in SEM image in Fig. 1. This led to formation of ballistic deflector transistor (BDT) [2]. In BDT, without biasing the lateral gates, we replicated the rectifying behavior shown in Fig. 2, certifying the presence of non-linear effect at RT.