Performance projection of III‐nitride heterojunction nanowire tunneling field‐effect transistors

Abstract

The device concept and simulated characteristics of III-nitride nanowire tunneling field-effect transistors (NW TFETs) are presented. These devices employ polarization engineering in GaN/InN/GaN heterojunctions to achieve appreciable interband tunneling current densities, combined with a nanowire cylindrical gate-all-around geometry to achieve a high degree of gate electrostatic control. Simulations indicate that III-nitride nanowire TFETs can be expected to achieve on–off current ratios of 1011, IOFF of 10−10 µA µm−1, sub-threshold slopes as low as 25 mV dec−1 over 4 decades of current, and an ION of 50 µA µm−1 at a supply voltage of 0.5 V. A parametric evaluation of the geometry dependence of the device performance is performed, and the optimal device design parameter ranges for III-nitride NW TFETs are identified.