Silicon-based quantum functional tunneling devices and their applications to logic and other future circuit topologies

The aim of this Ph.D. project is to develop high performance Si-based tunneling structures for integrated circuitry applications. In this work, three kinds of Si-based tunneling structures, namely, Si-based resonant interband tunneling diodes (RITD) for mixed signal integrated circuit and low power digital applications, Si-based backward diode for millimeterwave detection applications, and fabrication of Ge quantum dots for single electron transistor (SET) and quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) applications, were studied.; Since peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) is a very important figure-of-merit for tunnel diodes, one of the primary tasks in this work is to improve the PVCR of Si-based RITDs. The key to obtain a higher PVCR is to reduce the excess current component while maintaining the desired interband tunneling current. Two approaches were taken to improve the PVCR: the first one is to modify the RITD structure by growing SiGe layers cladding the B delta-doping plane to suppress the B diffusion; the second approach is to use spike annealing to limit the motion of dopant profile.; One of the attractive features of tunnel diodes is its inherent multi-state behavior. Vertically integrated npnp Si-based RITD pairs were successfully built with double negative differential (NDR) regions under forward bias.; A unified model which combines both the small and large signal models of an RITD grown on a SOI wafer was developed.; Radiation-effects experiments were performed on Si-based RITDs; A commercial Si0.8Ge0.2 virtual substrate was used to grow Si-based RITDs. To take advantage of the tensile strain in the Si layer, structures with Si layers which clad the P delta-doping plane and structures with barriers outside the tunneling region were studied. However, due to the large surface roughness of the commercially available Site substrate, the RITDs grown on Site substrates exhibit inferior performance to RITDs on conventional Si substrates.; Si-based backward diodes were grown by LT-MBE. Post-growth annealing removes the point defects and leads to dopant diffusion.; The oxidization of Si and Si/SiGe nano-pillars patterned by electron beam lithography (EBL) were studied. The Si pillars were successfully oxidized using an RTP 600S system. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...