Schottky Barrier Height Modulation (SBHM) Induced Photon Current Gain in MIS(p) Tunnel Diodes for Low Operation Voltage

Schottky barrier height modulation (SBHM) mechanism is utilized on metal-insulator-semiconductor tunnel diodes (MISTD) to achieve high photon current gain. The photon current gain can reach over 24000 at 2.5 V for the MISTD with oxide thickness 3.11 nm under photon flux of
$1.03\times 10^{12} cm^{-2}sec^{-1}$
. The operation voltage can go down to below 1 V depending on the oxide thickness of MISTD and the requirement of the gain. For example, the MISTD with oxide thickness 2.89 nm can produce photon current gain above 2800 at 1 V under photon flux of
$1.03\times 10^{12} cm^{-2}sec^{-1}$
. It is found that the devices can reach an electric field in the order of
$10^{4}-10^{5} V/cm$
under low operation voltage, which is helpful for high-speed applications. MISTD with gate metal and oxide thickness being properly chosen is simple in structure but effective in photon sensing.