Theory of hot-electron injection in CHINT/NERFET devices

We have considered theoretically the basic physical processes underlying the operation of the charge injection transistor (CHINT) and the negative resistance field-effect transistor (NERFET). Our treatment is based on the electron temperature (T
e
) approximation for the energy distribution of hot electrons in the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) channel. The T
e
is determined from an energy-balance equation which includes the following processes: 1) electron heating by the source-drain electric field (assumed uniform), 2) energy losses due to the interaction with phonons, 3) energy losses due to the emission of hot electrons from the channel into the second conducting layer (collector) and the attendant nonconservation of the channel current. Our theory gives a semi-quantitative analytical description of the current-voltage characteristics of CHINT/NERFET devices. Most--but not all-- of the important experimental features of the device operation are adequately described. Further improvement of the theory should include a realistic description of the field nonuniformity along the channel.