Abstract

First observation of switching behavior is reported in GaAs metal-insulator-p-n+ structure, where the thin insulator is grown at low temperature by a liquid phase chemical-enhanced oxide (LPECO) with a thickness of 100 Å. A significant S-shaped negative differential resistance (NDR) is shown to occur that originates from the regenerative feedback in a tunnel metal/insulator/semiconductor (MIS) interface and p-n+ junction. The influence of epitaxial doping concentration on the switching and holding voltages is investigated. The switching voltages are found to be decreased when increasing the epitaxial doping concentration, while the holding voltages are almost kept constant. A high turn-off/turn-on resistance ratio up to 105 has been obtained.