Recent Trends in Novel Semiconductor Devices

The VLSI industry has grown a lot for several decades. The Packing density of integrated circuits has been increased without compromising the functionality. Scaling of semiconductor devices, improvements in process technology and the development of new device designs are the key to this. Starting from the planar MOSFETs to novel multigate transistors, semiconductor devices have a history of many decades. There is a need for extensive exploration in order to determine the best suited semiconductor device for a given technology node. A brief overview of the transition from the planar MOSFET to the novel semiconductor devices and a comparative study of various novel semiconductor devices viz. FinFET, Gate all around FET, Vertical Nanowire and Nanosheet FET are presented in this paper. Optimization of the device configuration and improvements in device design/technology are also reviewed. A review of the device comparison on the basis of various device performance parameters such as subthreshold slope, On-Off current ratio, ease of fabrication, process variations and impact of scaling on figure of merits is presented in this paper.