Operation principle and perspective performances of Metal Oxide Vacuum Field Effect Transistor - MOVFET

Abstract

In this paper we present the operation principle of a Metal Oxide Vacuum Field Effect Transistor (MOVFET). The idea is to exploit a technology proposed in the literature to realize nano devices with low threshold voltage for power applications. The principle of operation of the MOVFET is based on the emission of electrons from a cold cathode in a vacuum in such a way to obtain a pentode-like characteristics with a very low on resistance. This last feature is particularly interesting for the application as switches in power electronics applications. Moreover, the absence of a gate oxide which is always present in traditional MOSFETs suggests that this device can have better reliability features even in rad hard applications. A numerical simulator is used to evaluate the impact of the technological parameters on the static characteristics of the device and the perspective performances in power electronics applications.