A perspective on steep-subthreshold-slope negative-capacitance field-effect transistor

In today s highly information-oriented society, a continuously increasing number of computing devices are needed in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) era, from high-end servers in cloud to sensor node devices in edge. Under the constraint of power consumption, energy-efficient computing is necessary to enable low-power operation and implement emerging algorithms such as machine learning. A steep-subthreshold-slope (SS) transistor can be a next-generation device technology platform for highly energy-efficient computing. Among several types of steep-SS transistors, the negative-capacitance field-effect transistor (NCFET) has recently become one of the most promising candidates in terms of on-current, process integration, and cost, coincident with the discovery of ferroelectric HfO2. In this review paper, the concept and recent research studies on NCFET are reviewed. Technical challenges and future prospects are discussed.