Rapid and up-scalable manufacturing of gigahertz nanogap diodes

Abstract

The massive deployment of fifth generation and internet of things technologies requires precise and high-throughput fabrication techniques for the mass production of radio frequency electronics. We use printable indium-gallium-zinc-oxide semiconductor in spontaneously formed self-aligned <10 nm nanogaps and flash-lamp annealing to demonstrate rapid manufacturing of nanogap Schottky diodes over arbitrary size substrates operating in 5 G frequencies. These diodes combine low junction capacitance with low turn-on voltage while exhibiting cut-off frequencies (intrinsic) of >100 GHz. Rectifier circuits constructed with these co-planar diodes can operate at ~47 GHz (extrinsic), making them the fastest large-area electronic devices demonstrated to date.

The incoming internet of things technology requires mass production of radiofrequency electronics. Here, Anthopoulos et al. report a self-forming nanogap method for manufacturing Schottky diodes, operating at 47 GHz, over arbitrary size substrates.