A NEGATIVE DIFFERENTIAL RESISTANCE DEVICE AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME

摘要

An n-channel metal-insulator-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MISFET) that exhibits negative differential resistance in its output characteristic (drain current as a function of drain voltage) is disclosed. For a fixed gate voltage, the MISFET channel current, which flows between the drain and source terminals of the transistor, increases as the drain-to-source voltage increases above zero Volts. Once the drain-to-source voltage reaches a pre-determined level, the current subsequently decreases with increasing drain-to-source voltage. In this region of operation, the device exhibits negative differential resistance. The resulting MIS device, fabricated by a CMOS process, comprises a gate (110), source and drain (145 and 155), and a dielectric layer (130) having charge traps (130). The device is incorporated into a number of useful applications including memory devices, logic devices, etc.