Unidirectional electron flow in a nanometer-scale semiconductor channel: A self-switching device
Author
Summary, in English
By tailoring the boundary of a narrow semiconductor channel to break its symmetry, we have realized a type of nanometer-scale nonlinear device, which we refer to as self-switching device (SSD). An applied voltage V not only changes the potential profile along the channel direction, but also either widens or narrows the effective channel depending on the sign of V. This results in a diode-like characteristic but without the use of any doping junction or barrier structure. The turn-on voltage can also be widely tuned from virtually zero to more than 10 V, by simply adjusting the channel width. The planar and two-terminal structure of the SSD also allows SSD-based circuits to be realized by only one step of lithography. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.
Department/s
Publishing year
2003
Language
English
Pages
1881-1883
Publication/Series
Applied Physics Letters
Volume
83
Issue
9
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Topic
- Condensed Matter Physics
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0003-6951