Structure Effects in the gate-all-around Silicon Nanowire MOSFETs

Abstract

We theoretically examine the structure effects (cross-section shape, channel orientation and the size of nanowires) of the gate-all-around silicon nanowire metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect- transistors (MOSFETs) on their ultimate performance. Among these different types of silicon nanowire MOSFETs, the rectangular nanowire MOSFETs present the best device performance in terms of the ON-state currents with the consideration of the fixed nanowire size. However, the triangular nanowire MOSFETs show the largest bandgap change caused by the quantum confinement effects, indicating the largest VT variations. As the size of the nanowire decreases, the quantum effects play the more important role in the device performance, for example, the significant performance enhancements in the P-type MOSFETs due to carrier effective mass changes in P-type Si nanowire MOSFETs.