Low cost manufacture of high frequency tunnel device systems

Devices and circuits in volume production are the subject of very strong downward pressure on costs. Superior performance is not enough for devices and circuits, even where there is a clear market. In order to achieve low manufacturing costs, the designs have to be tolerant of fluctuations in relevant device parameters, the fabrication processes have to be reliable and highly reproducible, and a user-friendly simulator is required both for reverse engineering during the development stage and right-first-time design during manufacture. While prototype devices that exploit tunneling and resonant tunneling have many attractive performance features, the process of establishing low-cost manufacturability is as yet incomplete. Some recent results are however quite promising. They also have direct implications for the eventual manufacture of devices that incorporate mesoscopic or nanometer-scale features.