High-Speed and Low-Power Performance of n-type InSb/InP and InAs/InP Core/Shell Nanowire Field Effect Transistors for CMOS Logic Applications

Abstract

The performance metrics of highly scaled n-type InSb/InP and InAs/InP core/shell nanowire (NW) field-effect transistors (FETs) are theoretically investigated using an 8-band k•p model and a semiclassical ballistic transport model. We present the ON-current, the intrinsic cut-off frequency, the gate-delay time, the power-delay product, and the energy-delay product of NWFETs with two NW diameters of 10 nm and 12 nm, which operate in the quantum capacitance limit. We compare the results to the numbers predicted or projected for other materials and dimensionalities and find good agreement. Within a source Fermi energy range of 0.1–0.3 eV for all devices, the ON-current varies from 7–58 µA, the intrinsic cut-off frequency ranges from 8–15 THz, the power-delay product varies from 2×10⁻²⁰–9.7×10⁻¹⁹ J, the gate-delay time varies from 2–19 fs, and the energy-delay product ranges from 7×10⁻³⁵–1×10⁻³² Js. These NWFETs, thus, provide both ultra-low power switching and high-speed.