Semiconductor device with programmable response

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016197294-A1
Application number	US-201615044248-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 16, 2016
Priority date	Jan 5, 2015
Publication date	Jul 7, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An apparatus with a programmable response includes a semiconductor device with a junction formed thereon, the junction having a built-in potential, a quantum well element proximate to the junction that provides an energy well within a depletion region of the junction. The energy well comprises one or more donor energy states that support electron trapping, and/or one or more acceptor energy states that support hole trapping; thereby modulating the built-in potential of the junction. The semiconductor device may be a diode, a bipolar diode, a transistor, or the like. A corresponding method is also disclosed herein.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A programmable semiconductor field-effect transistor device, the device comprising:
a plurality of electrodes including a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a gate electrode, the gate electrode coupled to a channel region via a gate insulator on a first side of the channel region; a junction, located on a second side of the channel region, the junction having a built-in potential; a quantum well element proximate to the junction that provides an energy well within a depletion region of the junction; the energy well comprising one or more donor energy states that support electron trapping and/or one or more acceptor energy states that support hole trapping; the built-in potential of the junction corresponding to a net polarity of holes and electrons trapped by the one or more donor energy states and/or one or more acceptor energy states; wherein the conductivity of the channel region of the semiconductor field-effect transistor is programmed by applying an electrical signal across at least electrodes of the plurality of electrodes to cause a net polarity of holes and electrons to be trapped by the one or more donor energy states and/or one or more acceptor energy states.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the junction is a hetero-junction.

3 . The device of claim 2 , wherein the hetero-junction comprises an interface between a first organic material and an inorganic material.

4 . The device of claim 3 , wherein the inorganic material comprises silicon and the first organic material comprises pentacene.

5 . The device of claim 4 , further comprising a passivation layer between the first organic material and the inorganic material that saturates dangling bonds of the inorganic material.

6 . The device of claim 5 , wherein the passivation layer comprises a second organic material.

7 . The device of claim 6 , wherein the second organic material is selected from the group consisting of an aromatic organic material, a monolayer of a long-chain alcohol, and a monolayer of a long-chain thiol.

8 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the quantum well element is a metallic nanoparticle.

9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the quantum well element is an embedded junction having a lower bandgap energy than the junction.

10 . The device of claim 2 , wherein the hetero-junction comprises an interface between two semiconductor materials selected from the group consisting of a IV material, a III material, and a V material.

11 . The device of claim 2 , wherein the hetero-junction comprises an interface between two amorphous, nano-crystalline or micro-crystalline semiconductor materials.

12 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the programmed conductivity characteristics are non-volatile.

13 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is an ambipolar transistor.

14 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the gate electrode is electrically connected to the drain electrode.

15 . A method for obtaining a programmable response, the method comprising:
providing a semiconductor field-effect transistor with:
a plurality of electrodes including a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a gate electrode, the gate electrode coupled to a channel region via a gate insulator on a first side of the channel region,
a junction, located on a second side of the channel region, the junction having a built-in potential,
a quantum well element proximate to the junction that provides an energy well within a depletion region of the junction,
the energy well comprising one or more donor energy states that support electron trapping and/or one or more acceptor energy states that support hole trapping,
the built-in potential of the junction corresponding to a net polarity of holes and electrons trapped by the one or more donor energy states and/or one or more acceptor energy states; and
applying a programming signal to at least two electrodes of the plurality of electrodes to cause a net polarity of holes and electron to be trapped by the one or more donor energy states and/or one or more acceptor energy states.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the programming signal is a voltage signal.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising applying a read signal to the semiconductor field-effect transistor and detecting a response of the semiconductor field-effect transistor to a read signal.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the read signal is a voltage signal and the response of the semiconductor field-effect transistor is a current signal.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the programming signal and the read signal are voltage signals, and the read signal has a lower amplitude than the programming signal.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the gate electrode is electrically connected to the drain electrode.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Afzali-Ardakani Ali
• Chen Tze-Chiang
• Gopalakrishnan Kailash
• Hekmatshoartabari Bahman
• Kwark Young H

Classifications

• H10K10/86

  Schottky electrodes · CPC title

• H10K10/29

  Diodes comprising organic-inorganic heterojunctions · CPC title

• G11C14/00 Primary

  Digital stores characterised by arrangements of cells having volatile and non-volatile storage properties for back-up when the power is down · CPC title

• H01L51/0098

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G11C11/5664

  using organic memory material storage elements · CPC title