Understanding of Feedback Field-Effect Transistor and Its Applications

Abstract

Feedback field-effect transistors (FBFETs) are devices based on a positive feedback loop in which the electrons and holes in the channel region act on the energy states of the potential barrier and wall. Owing to the positive feedback phenomenon, FBFETs have an excellent subthreshold swing (~0 mV/decade at 300 K), a high on-/off current ratio (~1010), and a clear saturation region. The power consumption of both the turn-on state and turn-off state is significantly low until operation commences. In addition, the hysteresis caused by the carriers accumulated in the potential wall allows the FBFET to act as a memory device. Moreover, the power consumption of neuromorphic devices can be suppressed by ~100 times with the use of FBFETs. In this work, we analyze the device structure and operating principle of the FBFET and summarize its applications.

Keywords

• positive feedback
• steep-switching device
• feedback field-effect transistor
• low power application
• neuromorphic computing
• integrate-and-fire