Citation: Fuhrer, Michael S., et al. "Proposal for a negative capacitance topological quantum field-effect transistor." 2021 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM). IEEE, 2021.
Web: https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.05288
Tags: Physical, Quantum-hall-effect, Materials-applications, Topological-insulators
This paper proposes a design for a transistor based on the quantum Hall effect. The design works as follows. The conductance between the source and the drain of the transistor is mediated by a 2-dimensional electron gas. This gas can either be in a trivial phase in which it will not conduct, or it will be in a topological phase where the quantum spin Hall effect will give zero-resistance conductance at the edge modes. The gate input gives a voltage which can be used to induce the non-trivial topological phase, and hence control conductance. Thus, this gives a scheme for a transistor. More details about the proposal can be found here:
> Nadeem, Muhammad, et al. "Overcoming Boltzmann's tyranny in a transistor via the topological quantum field effect." Nano Letters 21.7 (2021): 3155-3161.
The authors are very optimistic about the prospects of the device. By choosing the correct material it can operate at energy costs lower than a quarter of the theoretical minimum for conventional transistors, with no theoretical lower bound in sight. Additionally, they claim that with materials advances such a transistor should be able to function at room temperature.