Heike Riel

Tunnel field-effect transistors as energy-efficient electronic switches

Power dissipation is a fundamental problem for nanoelectronic circuits. Scaling the supply voltage reduces the energy needed for switching, but the field-effect transistors (FETs) in todays integrated circuits require at least 60 mV of gate voltage to increase the current by one order of magnitude at room temperature. Tunnel FETs avoid this limit by using quantum-mechanical band-to-band tunnelling, rather than thermal injection, to inject charge carriers into the device channel. Tunnel FETs based on ultrathin semiconducting films or nanowires could achieve a 100-fold power reduction over complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) transistors, so integrating tunnel FETs with CMOS technology could improve low-power integrated circuits.

Toward Nanowire Electronics

This paper discusses the electronic transport properties of nanowire field-effect transistors (NW-FETs). Four different device concepts are studied in detail: Schottky-barrier NW-FETs with metallic source and drain contacts, conventional-type NW-FETs with doped NW segments as source and drain electrodes, and, finally, two new concepts that enable steep turn-on characteristics, namely, NW impact ionization FETs and tunnel NW-FETs. As it turns out, NW-FETs are, to a large extent, determined by the device geometry, the dimensionality of the electronic transport, and the way of making contacts to the NW. Analytical as well as simulation results are compared with experimental data to explain the various factors impacting the electronic transport in NW-FETs.

Transient and steady-state behavior of space charges in multilayer organic light-emitting diodes

A numerical study of space charge effects in multilayer organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is presented. The method of solving the coupled Poisson and continuity equations, previously established for single-layer polymer LEDs, has been extended to treat internal organic interfaces. In addition, we consider the transient current and electroluminescence response. We discuss the accumulation of charges at internal interfaces and their signature in the transient response as well as the electric field distribution. Comparison to experimental transient data of a typical bilayer LED based on tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq3) is provided and good agreement is found. Our results are consistent with commonly assumed operating principles of bilayer LEDs. In particular, the assumptions that the electric field is predominantly dropped across the Alq3 layer and that the electroluminescence delay time is determined by electrons passing through Alq3 to the internal interface are self-consistently supported by ...

Donor deactivation in silicon nanostructures

The operation of electronic devices relies on the density of free charge carriers available in the semiconductor; in most semiconductor devices this density is controlled by the addition of doping atoms. As dimensions are scaled down to achieve economic and performance benefits, the presence of interfaces and materials adjacent to the semiconductor will become more important and will eventually completely determine the electronic properties of the device. To sustain further improvements in performance, novel field-effect transistor architectures, such as FinFETs and nanowire field-effect transistors, have been proposed as replacements for the planar devices used today, and also for applications in biosensing and power generation. The successful operation of such devices will depend on our ability to precisely control the location and number of active impurity atoms in the host semiconductor during the fabrication process. Here, we demonstrate that the free carrier density in semiconductor nanowires is dependent on the size of the nanowires. By measuring the electrical conduction of doped silicon nanowires as a function of nanowire radius, temperature and dielectric surrounding, we show that the donor ionization energy increases with decreasing nanowire radius, and that it profoundly modifies the attainable free carrier density at values of the radius much larger than those at which quantum and dopant surface segregation effects set in. At a nanowire radius of 15 nm the carrier density is already 50% lower than in bulk silicon due to the dielectric mismatch between the conducting channel and its surroundings.

Electron mobility in tris(8-hydroxy-quinoline)aluminum thin films determined via transient electroluminescence from single- and multilayer organic light-emitting diodes

Transient electroluminescence (EL) from single- and multilayer organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) was investigated by driving the devices with short, rectangular voltage pulses. The single-layer devices consist of indium-tin oxide (ITO)/tris(8-hydroxy-quinoline)aluminum (Alq3)/magnesium (Mg):silver (Ag), whereas the structure of the multilayer OLEDs are ITO/copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/N,N′-di(naphthalene-1-yl)-N,N′-diphenyl-benzidine (NPB)/Alq3/Mg:Ag. Apparent model-dependent values of the electron mobility (μe) in Alq3 have been calculated from the onset of EL for both device structures upon invoking different internal electric field distributions. For the single-layer OLEDs, transient experiments with different dc bias voltages indicated that the EL delay time is determined by the accumulation of charge carriers inside the device rather than by transport of the latter. This interpretation is supported by the observation of delayed EL after the voltage pulse is turned off. In the multilayer OLED the ...

Phosphorescent top-emitting organic light-emitting devices with improved light outcoupling

A dielectric capping layer has been used to increase the light output and to tune the spectral characteristics of top-emitting, phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). By controlling the thickness of the dielectric layer deposited on top of a thin metal cathode, the transmittance of the top electrode can be adjusted. Maximum light output is not achieved at highest cathode transmittance, indicating that the interplay between different interference effects can be controlled by means of the capping-layer thickness. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the electrical device characteristic is not influenced by the capping layer. The strength of our concept in particular lies in the fact that the optical and the electrical device performance can be optimized separately. Using the capping-layer concept, we have achieved an OLED efficiency of 64 cd/A with pure green emission.

Tuning the emission characteristics of top-emitting organic light-emitting devices by means of a dielectric capping layer: An experimental and theoretical study

The emission characteristics of top-emitting organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) have been studied experimentally and theoretically to derive a quantitative understanding of the effect of a dielectric capping layer. We demonstrated that the angular intensity distribution and the spectral characteristics can be tuned and the light outcoupling enhanced simply by varying the optical thickness of a dielectric layer deposited on top of a semitransparent metal electrode. With the capping-layer concept, the outcoupled light intensity in forward direction was increased by a factor of 1.7, and concomitantly a high color purity achieved. An optical model based on a classical approach was used to calculate the emission characteristics. The excellent agreement between measured and simulated data shows that the capping layer controls the interplay between different interference effects such as wide-angle and multiple-beam interference occurring in top-emitting OLEDs. The strength of the capping layer concept is in ...

Silicon nanowire tunneling field-effect transistors

We demonstrate the implementation of tunneling field-effect transistors (TFETs) based on silicon nanowires (NWs) that were grown using the vapor-liquid-solid growth method. The Si NWs contain p-i-n+ segments that were achieved by in situ doping using phosphine and diborane as the n- and p-type dopant source, respectively. Electrical measurements of the TFETs show a band-to-band tunneling branch in the transfer characteristics. Furthermore, an increase in the on-state current and a decrease in the inverse subthreshold slope upon reducing the gate oxide thickness are measured. This matches theoretical calculations using a Wenzel Kramer Brillouin approximation with nanowire diameter and oxide thickness as input parameters.

Simulating electronic and optical processes in multilayer organic light-emitting devices

A detailed investigation of the device operation of a blue-emitting multilayer organic light-emitting device (OLED) using an electronic device model is presented. In particular, a transient electroluminescence overshoot at turn-on is found to originate from charge and recombination confinement effects at internal interfaces. The location of the emission zone is obtained from the electronic model and its experimental determination exemplified by a sensing layer method. Moreover, the optimization of emission intensity and color is discussed for a red-emitting OLED. The thin-film interference effects are analyzed with help of an optical device model.

Transport Properties of a Single-Molecule Diode

Charge transport through single diblock dipyrimidinyl diphenyl molecules consisting of a donor and acceptor moiety was measured in the low-bias regime and as a function of bias at different temperatures using the mechanically controllable break-junction technique. Conductance histograms acquired at 10 mV reveal two distinct peaks, separated by a factor of 1.5, representing the two orientations of the single molecule with respect to the applied bias. The current-voltage characteristics exhibit a temperature-independent rectification of up to a factor of 10 in the temperature range between 300 and 50 K with single-molecule currents of 45-70 nA at ±1.5 V. The current-voltage characteristics are discussed using a semiempirical model assuming a variable coupling of the molecular energy levels as well as a nonsymmetric voltage drop across the molecular junction, thus shifting the energy levels accordingly. The excellent agreement of the data with the proposed model suggests that the rectification originates from an asymmetric Coulomb blockade in combination with an electric-field-induced level shifting.