Preliminary characterization of a metal-gas-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MGSFET) proposed

A solid-gate-insulator-less field-effect transistor, named metal-gas-semiconductor FET, MGSFET is proposed. This is aimed to avoid possible failures such as dielectric breakdown of the gate due to the gate insulator. A fundamental process sequence and preliminary characterization for MGSFET are described in this article.Regarding the device performance, it is observed that drain current drivability of MGSFET is about four times worse than that of conventional MOSFET. It is speculated that the inferiority is caused by the permittivity difference between SiO₂ and air. While, the gate leakage current of MOSFET obviously becomes worse after the catastrophic breakdown, but that of MGSFET becomes much better than before in forced breakdown of gate insulation. In this first trial of MGSFET implementation, the forced breakdown simultaneously degrades normal transistor performance. Further investigation should be made to analyze what is going on MGSFET structure.