Samsung patents layered semiconductor design with thin tunneling layer
Samsung describes a semiconductor device made of multiple stacked layers of different conductivity types. It features a very thin 'tunneling' layer between the top electrode and the main semiconductor stack, which is thinner than the layer beneath it.
In the filing’s own words
A semiconductor device includes a cathode electrode, a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type, a third semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type, and at least one fourth semiconductor layer of the second conductivity type that are sequentially stacked on the cathode electrode in a first direction, a gate electrode connected to the second semiconductor layer or the third semiconductor layer, an anode electrode on the at least one fourth semiconductor layer, and a first tunneling layer of the first conductivity type between the anode electrode and the at least one fourth semiconductor layer, where the second conductivity type is different from the first conductivity type and, in the first direction, a thickness of the first tunneling layer is less than a thickness of the at least one fourth semiconductor layer.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A semiconductor device comprising: a cathode electrode, a first semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type, a second semiconductor layer of a second conductivity type, a third semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type, and at least one fourth semiconductor layer of the second conductivity type that are sequentially stacked on the cathode electrode in a first direction, a gate electrode connected to the second semiconductor layer or the third semiconductor layer, an anode electrode on the at least one fourth semiconductor layer, and a first tunneling layer of the first conductivity type between the anode electrode and the at least one fourth semiconductor layer, wherein the second conductivity type is different from the first conductivity type, and wherein, in the first direction, a thickness of the first tunneling layer is less than a thickness of the at least one fourth semiconductor layer.
Facts
- Company
- Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
- Official title
- SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE
- Publication number
- US20260271319A1
- Application number
- 19347044
- Filed
- Oct 1, 2025
- Published
- Sep 10, 2026
- Inventors
- 4
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H10D 18/60 Electricity & electronicsH10D 62/124 Electricity & electronicsH10D 62/60 Electricity & electronicsH10D 62/822 Electricity & electronicsH10D 62/824 Electricity & electronicsH10D 62/8325 Electricity & electronicsMore from Samsung in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.