Ab Initio Calculations to Determine Tunneling Parameters for 4H-SiC Tunneling Field-Effect Transistor Simulations

TFETs are a type of transistor that switches band-to-band tunneling currents. Such devices are promising candidates for future integrated circuits, low-power electronics, and quantum applications. Device simulations of TFETs with the non-local tunneling model require material-specific parameters to correctly describe the band-to-band tunneling process. The material-specific parameters can be determined by atomistic simulations. These ab initio calculations allow fast and efficient determination of material-specific parameters without experimental input. This process is demonstrated for 4H-SiC, which is an indirect semiconductor with a large band gap to the direct conduction band valley. In 4H-SiC, phonon-assisted tunneling is the dominant tunneling process. For the validation of the simulated parameters, TCAD simulations of transfer characteristics are compared with those of measured devices.