Abstract
Two-terminal devices are building blocks for modern electronic systems. However, the typical two-terminal architecture can limit functionality and performance. Here we report a multifunctional three-terminal diode that consists of a traditional two-terminal gallium nitride-based p‒n diode with a monolithically integrated third terminal (Tt) composed of metal/Al2O3 dielectric layer directly on the p-layer. When the three-terminal diode operates as an emitter, the light intensity can be tuned by adjusting the bias applied to the Tt, and its modulation bandwidth can be increased from 160 MHz in the original p‒n diode to 263 MHz due to the integrated bias tee function enabled by the Tt. When it operates as a photodetector, both the applied voltage on the Tt and the incident light act as signal inputs that control the magnitude of output photocurrent, providing reconfigurable optoelectronic NAND and NOR logic gates.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China 2023YFB3610500, National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos 62322410, 51727901, 52272168, 52161145404), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant no. WK3500000009) and International Projects of the Chinese Academy of Science under grant no. 211134KYSB20210011 and was partially carried out at the University of Science and Technology of China Center for Micro and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication. We would like to thank the Information Science Center of the University of Science and Technology of China for the hardware/software services and the ANSO scholarship for young talent.
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H.S. developed the idea. H.S. and S.L. designed the experiments and supervised the project with the support of advanced material growth and characterization tools. M.H.M. and H.Y. fabricated the devices, performed material characterizations and data analysis and wrote the manuscript draft with input from all the authors. M.H.M., H.Y., Y.L., Y.K., W.C. and D. Luo performed the electrical and optical characterizations. H.Y. and S.X. conducted the theoretical modelling of the devices. M.H.M., C.G., D. Li and C.S. performed the optical communication testing. H.Y., Y.L., Y.K. and W.C. conducted the OELGs characterization. C.Z., L.F., B.S.O., S.L. and H.S. contributed to the results examination and revision of the manuscript. All the authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
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Nature Electronics thanks Hongyan Fu and Xin-Ke Liu for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Memon, M.H., Yu, H., Luo, Y. et al. A three-terminal light emitting and detecting diode. Nat Electron 7, 279–287 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-024-01142-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-024-01142-y