DEVICES FOR UTILIZING SYMFETS FOR LOW-POWER INFORMATION PROCESSING

摘要

A Boolean gate includes at least one symmetric tunneling field-effect transistor (SymFET) for low-power information processing. SymFETs are ideal for applications that demand low power and have moderate speed requirements, and demonstrate better dynamic energy efficiency than CMOS circuits. Negative differential resistance (NDR) behavior of SymFETs leads to hysteresis in inverters and buffers, and can be used to build simple Schmitt-triggers. Further, pseudo-SymFET loads may be utilized in circuits similar to all-n-type or dynamic logic. For example, latches and flip-flops as well as NAND, NOR, IMPLY, and MAJORITY gates may employ SymFETs. Such SymFET-based devices require fewer transistors than static CMOS-based designs.