Analog/RF performance assessment of ferroelectric junctionless carbon nanotube FETs: A quantum simulation study

Abstract

This paper, numerically assesses the analog/RF performance of nanoscale negative capacitance junctionless carbon nanotube field-effect transistor (NCJL-CNTFET). The simulation study is based on the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism in conjunction with the self-consistent device electrostatics, including the Landau–Khalatnikov (L-K) equation and the ballistic transport conditions. The proposed nanoscale analog transistor is endowed with four multi-objective improvement assets, namely, gate-all-around (GAA) configuration for the best gate control, metal-ferroelectric-metal-insulator-semiconductor (MFMIS) gating structure for boosting the device performance via the NC feature, junctionless paradigm for simplifying the fabrication processes, and the carbon nanotube-based channel due to its exploitable transport benefits. The quantum simulation study investigates the transfer and output characteristics, transconductance, drain conductance, transconductance efficiency, gate capacitance, and cut-off frequency. We have also studied and analyzed the impact of ferroelectric thickness on the device figures of merit. The NCJL-CNTFET have exhibited several distinctive behaviors, namely, shift in threshold voltage, negative differential resistance, and negative conductance. Moreover, it has been found that utilizing the NC paradigm can significantly boost the performance of the JL-CNTFET in terms of transconductance, gate capacitance, and transconductance efficiency. Our encouraging results make the studied NCJL-CNTFET a promising candidate for high-performance and low-power analog/RF applications.