Ballistic deflection transistors and the emerging nanoscale era

This paper presents a brief survey of the state of the art in nanoscale electronics, with special emphasis on room-temperature nanoscale ballistic deflection transistors (BDTs) and T-branch junctions (TBJs). Both devices are planar structures etched into a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). Extremely low capacitances (~0.2 fF) in the 2DEG system and low switching voltages (~0.15 V) predict THz performance and ultra-low power consumption, making BDTs and TBJs among the most promising and versatile of ballistic nanoelectronic devices. Obstacles in circuit and logic design using the BDT are presented along with potential solutions. I-V characteristics from a fabricated BDT and simulation results from a two-input BDT NAND gate are provided. Future plans to facilitate large-scale integration are discussed.