Objetivo
With increasing miniaturization of semiconductor electronics an increasing fraction of the power to the circuit is converted into nondeterministic signals that add to the ambient noise. In commonly used device concepts noise degrades the performance. Interestingly, there are cases where noise, instead of degrading the device performances, can lead to enhanced signal to noise ratios, if principles of Stochastic Resonance (SR) are used.
The partners of the present proposal plan in a combined effort of groups working on device theory, nanofabrication and device characterization to investigate the feasibility and potential of SR nanoelectronic semiconductor devices. Using e.g. special FET like devices with tailored internal feedback the nonlinear dynamic transport properties in this regime will be explored for sensing and switching of sub thermal signals with the help of stochastic resonance-like dynamics. Within the proposal several key devices like "residence time detectors" and "electrochemical capacitance feedback transistors" will be realized and investigated for the first time.
Concepts of integrated nanoscale circuits with efficient readout schemes, enhanced signal resolution in a noisy environment and stochastic resonance enhanced detection will be tested. By utilizing nonlinear transport in nanosystems the proposal has the potential to open a new window for electronic applications covering stochastic resonance phenomena, sub thermal switching and on chip noise control applications.