Investigations on the performance limits of the IMOS transistor

The Impact Ionization MOS (IMOS) transistor is a kind of promising concept as a candidate of MOS transistor due to its abrupt switching. However, some key issues will limit IMOS transistors for practical applications. In this paper, detailed physical explanations for the non-saturation of IMOS output characteristics and the unanticipated low drive current are presented. A new method to enhance the drive current of IMOS devices is reported and briefly discussed as well.