Investigation of the Double Current Path Phenomenon in Gate-Grounded Tunnel FET

Gate-grounded tunnel field-effect transistors (ggTFETs) are considered as basic electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection devices in TFET-integrated circuits. It has been reported that two current paths exist when the ggTFET is turned on under the ESD events. In this letter, the double current path phenomenon in ggTFETs is further investigated using TCAD simulation. It is found that the upper path is a hole current path, while the lower path mainly consists of electrons, and the grounded gate is a major factor that influences the double current path phenomenon. The heat and lattice temperature distributions in ggTFETs are also discussed.