Performance Assessment of a New Opto-ferroelectric-JL-FET IR Phototransistor: Impact of Negative Capacitance and Nanoparticle Plasmonics

The enhanced performances of Germanium (Ge) gate optically controlled field-effect transistors motivate researchers and designers to develop new infrared phototransistor (IR-PT) architectures. However, despite advancements in their design and performances, the trade-off between device responsivity and optical switching performances remains a big challenge. In this context, this work presents a new Opto-Ferro-FET IR-PT design that can provide superior sensing performances and enhanced optical switching properties. The device consists of using Negative Capacitance (NC) aspect to achieve enhanced optoelectronic properties, improved optical switching behavior as well as low-power consumption. The device is numerically modeled by combining FDTD and Landau-Khalatnikov (L-K) model. It is found that the proposed IR-PT based on Ge gate JL NCFET opens up the route for achieving enhanced optical switching behavior, where a low optical swing factor of 67 mV/dec is achieved. In addition, the role of plasmonic nanometal arrays based on gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) shape in boosting the performance of Ge gate JL NCFET IR-PT is analyzed. It is demonstrated that the combination of plasmonic and NC effect can allow bridging the gap between high IR responsivity, low power losses and improved optical switching. The device offers a high responsivity of 94 A/W, improved I_ON/I_OFF ratio of 95 dB and superb detectivity that exceeds 2.5 × 10¹³ Jones. Therefore, the proposed investigation can open new paths for developing efficient FET-based low power IR PT for optical communication applications.