Quantum transport characteristics in single and multiple N-channel junctionless nanowire transistors at low temperatures

• Published in: Chinese physics B 2014-08, Vol.23 (8), p.160-164
• Main Authors: Wang, Hao, Han, Wei-Hua, Ma, Liu-Hong, Li, Xiao-Ming, Yang, Fu-Hua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Channels; Drains; Electric potential; Nanowires; N沟道; Oscillations; Semiconductor devices; Transistors; Voltage; 传输特性; 低温条件; 晶体管; 漏极电流; 电流振荡; 硅纳米线; 量子限制效应
• ISSN: 1674-1056; 2058-3834; 1741-4199
• DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/23/8/088107

Single and multiple n-channel junctionless nanowire transistors （JNTs） are fabricated and experimentally investigated at variable temperatures. Clear current oscillations caused by the quantum-confinement effect are observed in the curve of drain current versus gate voltage acquired at low temperatures （10 K-100 K） and variable drain bias voltages （10 mV- 90 mV）. Transfer characteristics exhibit current oscillation peaks below flat-band voltage （VFB） at temperatures up to 75 K, which is possibly due to Coulomb-blocking from quantum dots, which are randomly formed by ionized dopants in the just opened n-type one-dimensional （1D） channel of silicon nanowires. However, at higher voltages than VFB, regular current steps are observed in single-channel JNTs, which corresponds to the fully populated subbands in the 1D channel. The subband energy spacing extracted from transconductance peaks accords well with theoretical predication. However, in multiple-channel JNT, only tiny oscillation peaks of the drain current are observed due to the combination of the drain current from multiple channels with quantum-confinement effects.