Macroporous silicon FET transistors for power applications

Abstract

In this paper we propose the use of macroporous silicon for microelectronic devices. We propose and study four different FET transistor structures using macroporous silicon as base material. Macroporous silicon is a novel material whose application most commonly suggested is as photonic crystals. Nevertheless, this is a versatile structured material with applications in many different areas, though microelectronics is not usually cited. We suggest its use for electronics devices as a FET transistor. The presented structures are studied by simulation in device modelling software (TCAD). Two kinds of operation modes have been considered: vertical (axial) and horizontal (transverse) in relation to the etched pores in silicon. One of the notable features of the described structures is the ability to have a massive number of identical unitary-cell transistor devices operating in parallel, having an all-around gate. These features allow driving the gate with low controlling voltages while handling large current density. Furthermore, the external device volume remains small thanks to the very large area-to-volume ratio. Thanks to the considerable amount of active area achievable, we further propose the use of such devices for low-voltage power applications. In this paper we present the obtained results of our simulations of the proposed devices.