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New materials for post-Si computing: Ge and GeSn devices

  • New Materials for Post-Si Computing
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Abstract

As Si-transistor technology advances beyond the 10 nm node, the device research community is increasingly looking into the possibility of replacing Si with novel, high mobility materials as the transistor channel. Among several possible candidate materials, germanium and germanium-tin alloys (GeSn) have emerged as strong contenders for the next generation of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors. This article presents a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in Ge and GeSn transistor research. We address several key material challenges involved in fabricating high-performance Ge/GeSn-based CMOS transistors, such as gate stack formation and achieving low-resistance contacts to transistor source/drain regions. Using Ge/GeSn as channel materials, we present a FinFET-based, Si-compatible CMOS solution for device dimensions expected in the 7 nm technology node, discuss the practical challenges involved in realizing this design, and highlight directions for future research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, USA

    Suyog Gupta

  2. Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

    Xiao Gong

  3. Department of Information Science and Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, China

    Rui Zhang

  4. Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

    Yee-Chia Yeo

  5. Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Systems, University of Tokyo, Japan

    Shinichi Takagi

  6. Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, USA

    Krishna C. Saraswat

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  1. Suyog Gupta
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  2. Xiao Gong
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  3. Rui Zhang
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  4. Yee-Chia Yeo
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  5. Shinichi Takagi
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  6. Krishna C. Saraswat
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Correspondence to Suyog Gupta.

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Gupta, S., Gong, X., Zhang, R. et al. New materials for post-Si computing: Ge and GeSn devices. MRS Bulletin 39, 678–686 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2014.163

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