Advanced manufacturing of InN/Si nanowire tunnelling transistors for energy efficient electronics

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Since the dawn of modern computing, the energy efficiency of computation has been a driving force forchange. It is estimated that approximately 1500 TWhr per year or 10% of global electricity production isconsumed on electronics, primarily on cloud computing. The implications of these unprecedented quantities of energy consumed by computing infrastructure are of growing concern, motivating the semiconductor community to seek out energy efficient alternatives.We propose to address the problem of energy efficiency in electronics by the development of a scalable advanced manufacturing process for low-voltage InN/Si tunnelling field effect transistors (TFETs). Reducing transistor operating voltage by adopting TFETs based on advanced nanomaterials synthesis via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is the most direct way of improving the energy efficiency of logic circuits. The TFET exploits the principle of quantum tunnelling of electrons through potential barriers, and can therefore operate at lower voltages than conventional transistors. MBE produces the highest quality semiconductors, and we will apply this technique to the scalable manufacture of InN TFETs. InN nanowires have been identified as the nanomaterial of choice because of their superior electronic quality and ideal band alignment with Si.The increased energy efficiency of a TFET would permit higher speed device operation, as it is primarily heat removal that limits clock speed. This project combines the synergetic complementary expertise of our team, including the quantum device expertise of Prof. Szkopek, the epitaxial nanomaterial growth expertise of the Prof. Mi, the semiconductor device modelling expertise of industrial partner Crosslight, and the nitride nanomaterial growth expertise of industrial partner Meaglow. By participating in this academic/industry partnership, Canadian companies Crosslight and Meaglow will be ideally placed to stake out a role in the integration of TFET technology into the $300 billion / annum semiconductor industry, in the specific domains of technology computer aided design (TCAD) and InN growth technology respectively.