GaN Nanowire n-MOSFET with 5 nm Channel Length for Applications in Digital Electronics

Abstract

We study the performance of GaN nanowire n-MOSFETs (GaN-NW-nFETs) with a channel length, Lg = 5 nm based on fully ballistic quantum transport simulations. Our simulation results show high ION = 1137μA/μm and excellent on-off characteristics with Q = gm/SS = 188 μS-decade/μm-mV calculated for Ioff = 1 nA/μm and VGS = VDS = VCC = 0.5 V. These results represent: 1) ∼ 15% higher Ion than Si-NW-nFET and 2) ∼ 17% better Q than Si-NW-nFET, all with Lg = 5 nm, thus suggesting the GaN n-channel, an intriguing option for application in logic at sub-10-nm channel length. The superior performance of the GaN channel compared with Si and other semiconductors at this scaled dimension can be attributed to its relatively higher effective mass of electron and lower permittivity.