A novel three-terminal negative differential conductance device in silicon: the hot-electron phonon-emission field-effect transistor

In this work, we describe the operation of a novel, three-terminal, laterally patterned NDC device fabricated in a high-mobility strained Si quantum well. We call this device a hot-electron phonon-emission field-effect transistor (HEPEFET), because the NDC is caused by phonon emission of energetic electrons injected into a constricted geometry. We describe the characteristics of the HEPEFET, and point out some of the features that make it potentially attractive for future high-density circuit applications.