Microelectronic current-sourcing device based on band-to-band tunneling current.

A new stable current-sourcing transistor is developed using the band-to-band tunneling phenomenon. A heterojunction between thin film WSand heavily hole-doped bulk silicon converts a section of the WScontacting the silicon into a hole-doped WSinside the WSchannel, and band-to-band tunneling occurs between the electron-doped and hole-doped WS. The output current is regulated by the tunneling barrier thickness. The thickness depends on the gate bias for device switching, but is less sensitive to the source bias, enabling stable output currents. The minimum line sensitivity is 2.6%, and the temperature coefficient is 1.4 × 10ppmC. The device can be operated as a current sourcing device with an ultralow output current and power consumption.