A Rectifier Bridge Circuit Based on Metal-semiconductor-metal Fin Tunneling Diode for High-frequency Application

doi:10.15541/jim20250076

Abstract

Abstract:

Tunneling diodes hold significant promise for future rectification in the terahertz (THz) and visible light spectra, thanks to their femtosecond-scale transit-time tunneling capabilities. In this work, TiN/ZnO/Pt fin tunneling diodes (FTDs) with tunneling distances of 10 and 5 nm are fabricated, which demonstrate remarkable characteristics, including ultrahigh asymmetry (1.6×10⁴ for 10 nm device and 1.6×10³ for 5 nm device), high responsivity (25.3 V^-1 for 10 nm device and 28.3 V^-1 for 5 nm device) at zero bias, surpassing the thermal voltage limit of conventional Schottky diodes, and low turn-on voltage (V_on) of approximately 100 mV for both devices, making them ideal for power conversion applications. Using technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations, the observed asymmetry in electronic transport is attributed to the transition between Fowler-Nordheim tunneling (FNT) and trap-assisted tunneling (TAT) under different biasing conditions, as illustrated by the corresponding energy band profiles. Furthermore, by integrating the FTDs, a rectifier bridge circuit is designed and exhibits full-wave rectification behavior, validated through SPICE simulations for THz-band operations. This advancement offers a highly efficient solution for THz-band energy conversion and effective detection applications.

Key words: fin tunneling diode, TCAD simulation, rectifier bridge, SPICE simulation

CLC Number:

TQ174

DENG Hengyang, QIN Cuijie, HAO Shenglan, FENG Guangdi, ZHU Qiuxiang, TIAN Bobo, CHU Junhao, DUAN Chungang. A Rectifier Bridge Circuit Based on Metal-semiconductor-metal Fin Tunneling Diode for High-frequency Application[J]. Journal of Inorganic Materials, 2026, 41(2): 253-261.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of line array constituted by TiN/ZnO/Pt FTDs fabricated on a Si/SiO2 substrate, along with cross-sectional view of a single device Upper right inset shows an optical image of an individual device from the top view (scale: 100 μm)

Fig. 2 Fabrication process of the rectifier bridge (a) Deposit TiN bottom circuit; (b) ALD (Atomic layer deposition) deposit Al2O3; (c) Etch holes; (d) Deposit Pt top circuit; (e) Etch Al2O3 and few Pt; (f) Deposit ZnO

Fig. 3 Energy band alignments and electrical characteristics (a) Energy band alignments of ZnO and electrodes (Pt and TiN) after contact; (b) I-V and J-V characteristics of the TiN/ZnO/Pt FTD device across various bias voltage ranges, where the bias is applied to the bottom electrode (TiN) and the top electrode (Pt) remains grounded

Fig. 4 Energy band alignments and fitting of tunneling mechanism of the FTD (a) Energy band alignments of the FTD and (b) ln(I/V2) vs. V-1 plots with FNT fitting under positive voltage; (c) Energy band alignments of the FTD and (d) lnI vs. V-1 plots with TAT fitting under negative voltage

Fig. 5 Rectification performance of FTD (10 nm) and FTD (5 nm) (a) I-V characteristics from experiments of FTD (10 nm) and FTD (5 nm); (b) I-V characteristics of FTD (10 nm) and FTD (5 nm) on a linear scale with Von values being obtained by linear extrapolation; (c) Asymmetry and nonlinearity and (d) responsivity and resistivity of the TiN/ZnO/Pt FTD (10 nm) and FTD (5 nm)

Table 1 Comparison of rectification performance among different tunneling diodes

Structure	f_Asy	V_on/V	f_Res (@0 V)/V^-1	Resistivity/(Ω·cm)
Nb/Nb₂O₃/Pt^[19]	1500	0.15	10	8.3×10⁸ (120×120π μm²)
Ni/NiO/ZnO/Cr^[17]	16	0.25	<5	9.5×10⁵ (20×20 μm²)
Ti/TiO₂/Gr^[6]	320	~0.8	12	2.9×10⁴ (140 μm²)
Ti/ZnO/Pt^[1]	<2	—	0.125	1.125×10⁶ (0.09 mm²)
Co/Co₃O₄/TiO₂/Ti^[25]	2	—	2.2	5.8 (0.17 μm²)
Pt/Al₂O₃/Al^[10]	107	1.4	<5	8.3×10¹² (100 μm²)
Pt/ZnO/Al₂O₃/Al^[27]	227	~0.5	13	3000-5000 (10×10 μm²)
Cr/TiO₂/ZnO/Cr^[38]	5.6	—	0.28	1300 (10⁴ μm²)
FTD (10 nm) (This work)	1.6×10⁴	0.1	25.3	8.8×10⁴ (0.02×500 μm²)
FTD (5 nm) (This work)	1.6×10³	0.1	28.3	8.8×10⁴ (0.02×500 μm²)

Fig. 6 Fitting of tunneling mechanism for FTD (5 nm) (a) ln(I/V2) vs. V-1 plots with FNT fitting under positive voltage; (b) lnI vs. V-1 plots with TAT fitting under negative voltage

Fig. 7 I-V curves obtained from TCAD simulations for TiN/ZnO/Pt FTDs with tunneling distances of 10 and 5 nm, analyzed using the FNT model under positive bias and the TAT model under negative bias

Fig. 8 Scheme and experiment for full-wave rectifier bridge (a) Test scheme for full-wave rectifier bridge; (b) Circuit scheme for full-wave rectifier bridge; (c) Structure schematic of full-wave rectifier bridge; (d) Layout diagram of full wave rectifier circuit (left) and corresponding rectification result (right); (e-g) Normalized full-wave rectification results of full-wave rectifier based on the TiN/ZnO/Pt FTDs with Vpp=1.5 V at frequencies of 1 (e), 2 (f) and 5 Hz (g), respectively

Table 2 Parameters of the ideal physical model of FTD

Parameter	Description	Unit	Value
TOX	Thickness of tunneling layer	Å	100
IF	Forward Fowler-Nordheim current coefficient	A/V²	5×10^-16
IR	Reverse Fowler-Nordheim current coefficient	A/V²	1×10^-16
EF	Forward critical electric field	V/cm	2×10⁶
ER	Reverse critical electric field	V/cm	2×10⁸
L	Diode length	m	2×10^-8
W	Diode width	m	5×10^-4

Fig. 9 SPICE simulations for the full-wave rectifier bridge based FTDs with a frequency of 100 GHz and Vpp=2 V

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