Modelling and simulation of 2D material-based electronic devices for integrated circuits

Abstract

As the feature size of silicon transistors has been ultra-scaled down to a few nanometres, technical bottlenecks, economic factors, and lots of secondary effects have significantly slowed down the development of the integrated circuit (IC) industry. Two-dimensional materials with ultrathin body nature are believed to be the potential substitute to shrink further the size of transistors beyond Moore’s law which states that the number of transistors doubles roughly every two years due to its better channel control capability.

Field-effect transistors (FETs) based on two-dimensional (2D) materials have aroused immense interest due to their unique characteristics such as good carrier mobility, atomic-scale smoothness, sizable bandgap, and dangling bond-free surfaces permit extraordinary physical and chemical properties. Electronic devices based on 2D materials can have high speed and low static power consumption compared to conventional 3D semiconductors, which are promising to be adopted in the semiconductor industry to keep Moore’s law effective. Specifically, Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) exhibits n-type behaviour with a high on/off current ratio, and Black Phosphorus (BP) exhibits an ambipolar behaviour and high carrier mobility.

This paper will investigate two different types of 2D materials through device modelling using Verilog-AMS language. Compact models will be established and validated based on experimental data, and then higher-level behavioural circuits simulation will be performed in HSPICE.