Coulomb oscillations based on band-to-band tunneling in a degenerately doped silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor

We report Coulomb oscillations based on band-to-band tunneling through a valence band in silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors. Degenerately p(+)-doped channel and n(+)-doped source/drain enables band-to-band tunneling, which can play a major role in the transport between the channel and source/drain. The formation of tunnel barriers and a quantum dot in a single-electron transistor structure originates from two p(+)-n(+) tunnel junctions and a p(+)-doped channel with mesoscopic dimension, respectively. Coulomb-blockade oscillations with multiple peaks were clearly observed at liquid nitrogen temperature. Using the electrical and thermal characterization of the quantum dot, single-electron charging effect based on band-to-band tunneling is confirmed. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.