05-09-2017, 04:39 PM
The tunnel field effect transistor (TFET) is an experimental type of transistor. Although its structure is very similar to a metal-oxide-field-effect semiconductor (MOSFET), the fundamental switching mechanism differs, making this device a promising candidate for low-power electronics. TFETs change by modulating the quantum tunnel through a barrier instead of modulating thermionic emission over a barrier as in traditional MOSFETs. Because of this, the TFETs are not limited by the Maxwell-Boltzmann bracket's thermal tail, which limits the substage oscillation of the MOSFET drain current to approximately 60 mV / decade current at room temperature (exactly 63 mV / decade to 300 K). Joerg Appenzeller and his IBM colleagues were the first to demonstrate that current oscillations below the 60 mV per decade MOSFET limit were possible. In 2004, they reported that they had created a tunnel transistor with a channel of carbon nanotubes and a sub-threshold oscillation of only 40 mV per decade.
