First Principles Simulation of Energy efficient Switching by Source Density of States Engineering

Achieving sub-60 mV/decade FET switching is critical for reducing power dissipation in integrated circuits. Here we propose and theoretically investigate steep slope switching made possible by a "cold source" that suppresses "hot" electrons at the thermal tail of the Fermi distribution. We show sub-60 mV/decade switching with: (i) using gapless/gapped graphene as injection source, (ii) introducing a band gap in the source of Si FET. The feasibility and design of the cold source are investigated by first principles on different metals, pocket doping and disorder.