Graphene-Base Heterojunction Transistor: An Attractive Device for Terahertz Operation

For the first time, a simulation study is reported of a device formed by stacking an n⁺-Si layer (emitter), a monolayer graphene sheet (base), and a second n-Si layer (collector), operating as a graphene-base heterojunction transistor. The device differs from the recently proposed hot-electron graphene-base transistor (GBT), where graphene is sandwiched between the two dielectric layers, in the current flow being regulated mainly by thermionic emission over the potential-energy barrier, rather than by tunneling through the emitter-contact Schottky barrier. The simulations are based on a 1-D quantum transport model with the effective mass approximation and nonparabolic corrections. In addition to being much easier to fabricate compared with the GBT, the device is shown to be able to provide 10⁴ ON/OFF current ratio, current densities well in excess of 0.1 A/μm² and cutoff frequencies well above 1 THz, together with an intrinsic dc small-signal voltage gain larger than 10. Even though the simulation model is somewhat idealized, since ballistic transport is assumed and Si-graphene interfaces are ideal, our results show that this device is a serious competitor for high-frequency RF applications.