A nonvolatile bidirectional reconfigurable FET based on S/D self programmable floating gates.

Abstract

A nanoscale nonvolatile bidirectional reconfigurable field effect transistor (NBRFET) based on source /drain (S/D) self programmable floating gates is proposed. Comparing to the conventional reconfigurable field effect transistor (RFET) which requires two independently powered gates, the proposed NBRFET requires only one control gate. Beside, S/D floating gates are introduced. Reconfigurable function is realized by programming different types of charges into the S/D floating gates through biasing the gate at a positive or negative high voltage. The effective voltages of the S/D floating gates are determined jointly by the quantity of the charge stored in the S/D floating gates and the gate voltage. In addition, the charge stored in the floating gate has an effect of reducing the energy band bending near the source/drain regions when the gate is reversely biased, thereafter, the band to band tunneling (BTBT) leakage current can be largely decreased. The scale of the proposed NBRFET can be reduced to nanometer level. The device performances such as the transfer and output characteristics are verified by device simulation, which proves that the proposed NBRFET has very good performance in the nanometer scale.