This letter presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of a 4H-SiC n-p-n bipolar junction transistor as a switch controlling an on-chip integrated p-i-n photodiode. The transistor and photodiode share the same epitaxial layers and topside contacts for each terminal. By connecting the collector of the transistor and the anode of the photodiode, the photo current from the photodiode is switched off at low base voltage (cutoff region of the transistor) and switched on at high base voltage (saturation region of the transistor). The transfer voltage of the circuit decreases as the ambient temperature increases (2 mV/degrees C). Both the on-state and off-state current of the circuit have a positive temperature coefficient and the on/off ratio is >80 at temperature ranged from 25 degrees C to 400 degrees C. It is proposed that the on/off ratio can be increased by similar to 1000 times by adding a light blocking layer on the transistor to reduce light induced off-state current in the circuit.

The advance of miniaturized and low-power electronics has a striking impact on the development of energy storage devices with constantly tougher constraints in terms of form factor and performance. Microsupercapacitors (MSCs) are considered a potential solution to this problem, thanks to their compact device structure. Great efforts have been made to maximize their performance with new materials like graphene and to minimize their production cost with scalable fabrication processes. In this regard, we developed a full inkjet printing process for the production of all-graphene microsupercapacitors with electrodes based on electrochemically exfoliated graphene and an ultrathin solid-state electrolyte based on nano-graphene oxide. The devices exploit the high ionic conductivity of nano-graphene oxide coupled with the high electrical conductivity of graphene films, yielding areal capacitances of up to 313 mu F cm-2 at 5 mV s-1 and high power densities of up to 4 mW cm-3 with an overall device thickness of only 1 mu m.

Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are a widely used technology for sensing applications. Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integration of SiNWs advances lab-on-chip (LOC) technology and offers opportunities for read-out circuit integration, selective and multiplexed detection. In this work, we propose novel scalable pixel-based biosensors exploiting the integration of SiNWs with CMOS in fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator technology. A detailed description of the wafer-scale fabrication of SiNW pixels using the CMOS compatible sidewall-transfer-lithography as an alternative to widely investigated time inefficient e-beam lithography is presented. Each 60 nm wide SiNWs sensor is monolithically connected to a control transistor and novel on-chip fluid-gate forming an individual pixel that can be operated in two modes: biasing transistor frontgate (V-G) or substrate backgate (V-BG). We also present the first electrical results of single N and P-type SiNW pixels. In frontgate mode, N and P-type SiNW pixels exhibit subthreshold slope (SS) approximate to 70-80 mV/dec and I-on/I-off approximate to 10(5). The N-type and P-type pixels have an average threshold voltage, Vth of -1.7 V and 0.85 V respectively. In the backgate mode, N and P-type SiNW pixels exhibit SS approximate to 100-150 mV/dec and I-on/I-off approximate to 10(6). The N and P-type pixels have an average V-th of 5 V and -2.5 V respectively. Further, the influence of the backgate and frontgate voltage on the switching characteristics of the SiNW pixels is also studied. In the frontgate mode, the Vth of the SiNW pixels can be tuned at 0.2 V for 1 V change in V-BG for N-type or at -0.2 V for -1 V change in V-BG for P-type pixels. In the backgate mode, it is found that for stable operation of the pixels, the V-G of the N and P-type transistors must be in the range 0.5-2.5 V and 0 V to -2.5 V respectively.

A Process Design Kit (PDK) has been developed to realize complex integrated circuits in Silicon Carbide (SiC) bipolar low-power technology. The PDK development process included basic device modeling, and design of gate library and parameterized cells. A transistor–transistor logic (TTL)-based PDK gate library design will also be discussed with delay, power, noise margin, and fan-out as main design criterion to tolerate the threshold voltage shift, beta (β) and collector current (I_C) variation of SiC devices as temperature increases. The PDK-based complex digital ICsdesign flow based on layout, physical verification, and in-house fabrication process will also be demonstrated. Both combinational and sequential circuits have been designed, such as a 720-device ALU and a 520-device 4 bit counter. All the integrated circuits and devices are fully characterized up to 500 °C. The inverter and a D-type flip-flop (DFF) are characterized as benchmark standard cells. The proposed work is a key step towards SiC-based very large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits implementation for high-temperature applications.

Silicon nanowire (SiNW) biosensors have received a special attention from the research community due to its ability to detect a range of species. The nano feature size of the SiNW has been exploited to fabricate small, low-cost, robust, portable, real-time read-out biosensors. These sensors are manufactured by two methods – top-down or bottom-up. Instead of the bottom-up method, the top-down approach is widely used due to its compatibility with complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process and scope of mass production. However, in the top-down method, the post fabrication microfluidic channel integration to access the SiNW test site remains complex and challenging. Since the nanosensor is expected to operate in a bio environment, it is essential to passivate the metal electrodes while pathways have to be made to access the test site. In this paper, we present a relatively easier method to access the SiNW test site without employing complex microfluidic channels while achieving leakage free passivation of metal electrodes and preserving the integrity of the nanosensor. This is accomplished in the last step of the manufacturing process by employing a lithography mask and reactive ion etching (RIE). HfO 2 integrated crystalline silicon nanosensors are manufactured using novel top-down front end of line (FEOL) sidewall transfer lithography (STL) process. HfO 2 acts as an etch stop layer while performing RIE in the last step to access the sensor test site. The 100 mm wafer scale results of 20 nm × 60 nm × 6 μm (H x W x L) p-type nanosensors shows an average I on /I off ≥ 10 5 with maximum turn-on voltage of −4 V and uniform subthreshold slope of 70 mV/dec. In comparison with sensors encapsulated with SiO 2 , the HfO 2 integrated nanosensors were found to improve the threshold voltage variation by 50%. Based on this work, the HfO 2 integrated SiNW demonstrates good stability for biosensing application.

Significant research interest is being devoted to exploiting the properties of graphene but the difficult integration on various substrates limits its use. In this regard, we developed a transfer technique that allows the direct deposition of inkjet printed graphene devices on arbitrary substrates, even 3D objects and living plants. With this technique, we fabricated micro-supercapacitors, which exhibited good adhesion on almost all substrates and no performance degradation induced by the process. Specifically, the microsupercapacitor on an orchid leaf showed an areal capacitance as high as 441 mu F cm(-2) and a volumetric capacitance of 1.16 F cm(-3). This technique can boost the use of graphene in key technological applications, such as self powered epidermal electronics and environmental monitoring systems.

4H-SiC pMOSFETs with Al-doped S/D and NbNi silicide ohmic contacts were demonstrated and were characterized at up to a temperature of 200°C. For the pMOSFETs, silicides on p-type 4H-SiC with Nb/Ni stack, Nb-Ni Alloy, Ni and Nb/Ti were investigated, and the Nb/Ni stack silicide with the contact resistance of 5.04×10-3 Ωcm2 were applied for the pMOSFETs.