SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENT WITH ADJUSTABLE CURRENT AMPLIFICATION BASED ON AVALANCHE BREAKDOWN CONTROLLED BY TUNNEL CURRENT

摘要

The component has a channel zone and an oppositely doped zone in a semiconductor substrate. The channel zone and a peripheral region of the first doped zone are separated by a gate dielectric from an overlying channel gate electrode. The first doped zone is predominantly separated by a tunnel dielectric from an overlying tunnel gate electrode. When a suitable voltage is applied to the first doped zone, the tunnel current from the tunnel gate electrode generates an avalanche breakdown in the semiconductor substrate. A current results between the terminals of the channel zone and the first doped zones that is amplified by several orders of magnitude.