Gate all around vacuum channel transistor
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorJohn H. Zhang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vacuum channel transistor having a vertical gate-all-around (GAA) architecture provides high performance for high-frequency applications, and features a small footprint compared with existing planar devices. The GAA vacuum channel transistor features stacked, tapered source and drain regions that are formed by notching a doped silicon pillar using a lateral oxidation process. A temporary support structure is provided for the pillar during formation of the vacuum channel. Performance of the GAA vacuum channel transistor can be tuned by replacing air in the channel with other gases such as helium, neon, or argon. A threshold voltage of the GAA vacuum channel transistor can be adjusted by altering dopant concentrations of the silicon pillar from which the source and drain regions are formed.
Claims20
A device, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a doped layer on the substrate;
- a vertical pillar formed from the doped layer;
- a source formed in a first portion of the vertical pillar, the first portion having a first point;
- a drain formed in a second portion of the vertical pillar, the second portion having a second point spaced apart from the first point by a first gap;
- a first insulator surrounding the source;
- a second insulator surrounding the drain;
- a second gap between the first and second insulators;
- and
- an annular gate concentric with the vertical pillar, the annular gate aligned with the first gap.
An integrated circuit comprising:
- a substrate;
- a plurality of devices on the substrate, each device including:
- a doped layer on the substrate;
- a vertical pillar in the doped layer;
- a source in a first portion of the vertical pillar, the first portion having a first point;
- a drain in a second portion of the vertical pillar, the second portion having a second point spaced apart from the first point by a first gap;
- a first insulator surrounding the source;
- a second insulator surrounding the drain;
- a second gap between the first and second insulators;
- an annular gate concentric with the vertical pillar, the annular gate aligned with the first gap;
- and
- front side electrical contacts coupled to the source, gate and drain.
A device, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a doped layer on the substrate, the doped layer having a base and a pillar, the pillar extends from the base, the pillar includes:
- a source in a first portion of the pillar, the source having a first tapered end;
- and
- a drain in a second portion of the pillar, the drain having a second tapered end, the second tapered end spaced apart from the first tapered end by a first gap.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.