Impact of High-k Gate Dielectric on Self-Heating Effects in PiFETs Structure

In this article, we propose a 2-D study for investigating the self-heating effect in new partially insulated field-effect transistors (PiFETs) based on high-k gate dielectrics. The thermal properties have been numerically simulated and compared to those of conventional bulk-metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (bulk-MOSFET) and PiFET structures. Several high-k materials such as ZrO2, HfO2, La2O3, and Al2O3 are used in order to test their impact on the temperature rise in the host lattice of new structures. A deal of interest has been paid to geometric parameters in the PiFET structures studied to further reduce the self-heating. The effects of geometrical and electrical parameters have been analyzed. As it is found, a significant reduction in temperature rise is achieved during high-power operation. This suggests that the insertion of high-k dielectric layers above the dioxide can mitigate the self-heating. More especially, Al2O3 has been revealed as an appropriate high-k dielectric to being recommended for the production of high-performance PiFET.