room-temperature quantum confinement effects in transport

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Room-Temperature Quantum Confinement Effects in Transport Properties of Ultrathin Si Nanowire Field-Effect Transistors Kyung Soo Yi,* ,,§ Krutarth Trivedi, Herman C. Floresca, Hyungsang Yuk, Walter Hu, and Moon J. Kim* ,,# Department of Material Science and Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas 75080, United States § Department of Physics, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea # Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, World Class University, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 500-712, Korea * S Supporting Information ABSTRACT: Quantum confinement of carriers has a substantial impact on nanoscale device operations. We present electrical transport analysis for lithographically fabricated sub-5 nm thick Si nanowire field-effect transistors and show that confinement- induced quantum oscillations prevail at 300 K. Our results discern the basis of recent observations of performance enhancement in ultrathin Si nanowire field-effect transistors and provide direct experimental evidence for theoretical predictions of enhanced carrier mobility in strongly confined nanowire devices. KEYWORDS: Quantum confinement effects, Si nanowires, room-temperature quantum oscillations, top-down patterning, ultrathin Si nanowire transistor Q uantum confinement of carriers has an extensive influence on the physics of nanoscale device oper- ation. 1,2 However, experimental study of quantum confinement effects was mostly limited to ultralow temperatures until recent years due to relatively large channel diameters of devices. 3,4 For practical applications of quantum characteristics, it is crucial for such effects to manifest at room temperature, which naturally dictates the size of the channel be reduced well into single-digit nanometer range so that the quantum size effect is able to overcome thermal broadening. In recent years, quantum oscillatory behavior has been reported to persist at elevated temperatures in one-dimensional (1D) devices with reduced dimensions. 57 There has been considerable effort to improve key device parameters such as transfer conductance and carrier mobility of such narrow Si nanowire (SiNW) devices. 810 More recently, it has been possible to lithographically (top-down) fabricated SiNW FETs on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates with device diameters as small as 3 nm, 11,12 and significant performance enhancement has been reported at 300 K in top- down patterned sub-5 nm p-Si [110] NW FETs. 11 Here, we demonstrate quantum confinement effect in transport proper- ties of ultrathin p-Si FETs at room temperature. Clear plateau- like structures in drainsource current (I DS ) are revealed in the subthreshold region of sub-5 nm p-SiNW FETs at 300 K. Oscillations in both transconductance (g M ) and channel conductance (g D ) are analyzed with respect to quantum confinement-induced subband structure. The genuine oscil- latory behaviors of conductance and carrier mobility are understood in terms of strong confinement of carriers in quantized 1D subband structure with corresponding unique 1D density of states (DOS). We compile the findings of our study into a framework to present clear experimental evidence of measurable quantum confinement effects (at 300 K) and also justify the recently reported enhanced carrier mobility in sub-5 nm SiNW FETs at room temperature. 11,13 Received: September 16, 2011 Revised: November 7, 2011 Letter pubs.acs.org/NanoLett © XXXX American Chemical Society A dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl203238e | Nano Lett. XXXX, XXX, XXXXXX

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Page 1: Room-Temperature Quantum Confinement Effects in Transport

Room-Temperature Quantum Confinement Effects in TransportProperties of Ultrathin Si Nanowire Field-Effect TransistorsKyung Soo Yi,*,†,§ Krutarth Trivedi,‡ Herman C. Floresca,† Hyungsang Yuk,† Walter Hu,‡

and Moon J. Kim*,†,#

†Department of Material Science and Engineering and ‡Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Texas at Dallas,Richardson, Texas 75080, United States§Department of Physics, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea#Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, World Class University, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju500-712, Korea

*S Supporting Information

ABSTRACT: Quantum confinement of carriers has a substantial impact on nanoscale device operations. We present electricaltransport analysis for lithographically fabricated sub-5 nm thick Si nanowire field-effect transistors and show that confinement-induced quantum oscillations prevail at 300 K. Our results discern the basis of recent observations of performance enhancementin ultrathin Si nanowire field-effect transistors and provide direct experimental evidence for theoretical predictions of enhancedcarrier mobility in strongly confined nanowire devices.

KEYWORDS: Quantum confinement effects, Si nanowires, room-temperature quantum oscillations, top-down patterning,ultrathin Si nanowire transistor

Q uantum confinement of carriers has an extensiveinfluence on the physics of nanoscale device oper-

ation.1,2 However, experimental study of quantum confinementeffects was mostly limited to ultralow temperatures until recentyears due to relatively large channel diameters of devices.3,4 Forpractical applications of quantum characteristics, it is crucial forsuch effects to manifest at room temperature, which naturallydictates the size of the channel be reduced well into single-digitnanometer range so that the quantum size effect is able toovercome thermal broadening. In recent years, quantumoscillatory behavior has been reported to persist at elevatedtemperatures in one-dimensional (1D) devices with reduceddimensions.5−7 There has been considerable effort to improvekey device parameters such as transfer conductance and carriermobility of such narrow Si nanowire (SiNW) devices.8−10 Morerecently, it has been possible to lithographically (top-down)fabricated SiNW FETs on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrateswith device diameters as small as 3 nm,11,12 and significantperformance enhancement has been reported at 300 K in top-down patterned sub-5 nm p-Si [110] NW FETs.11 Here, we

demonstrate quantum confinement effect in transport proper-ties of ultrathin p-Si FETs at room temperature. Clear plateau-like structures in drain−source current (IDS) are revealed in thesubthreshold region of sub-5 nm p-SiNW FETs at 300 K.Oscillations in both transconductance (gM) and channelconductance (gD) are analyzed with respect to quantumconfinement-induced subband structure. The genuine oscil-latory behaviors of conductance and carrier mobility areunderstood in terms of strong confinement of carriers inquantized 1D subband structure with corresponding unique 1Ddensity of states (DOS). We compile the findings of our studyinto a framework to present clear experimental evidence ofmeasurable quantum confinement effects (at 300 K) and alsojustify the recently reported enhanced carrier mobility in sub-5nm SiNW FETs at room temperature.11,13

Received: September 16, 2011Revised: November 7, 2011

Letter

pubs.acs.org/NanoLett

© XXXX American Chemical Society A dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl203238e | Nano Lett. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX

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Method. To demonstrate quantum size effects at roomtemperature, we fabricated sub-5 nm thick Si[110] NW FETslithographically on a SOI substrate, and performed high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM)imaging to confirm dimensions and uniformity of channelbodies in measured devices. Figure 1 shows a three-dimensional

(3D) schematics of the device and HR-TEM images of thecross section of a nanowire body before (a) and after (b)thermal oxidation. All electrical transport measurements wereperformed in air at room temperature using a shielded probestation with triax connectors in order to minimize RF radiationnoise. (See more details of SiNW device fabrication andtransport measurements in ref 11.) After electrical character-ization, cross section of each device was prepared with focusedion beam and imaged by HR-TEM to measure dimensions andexamine morphology. Cross sections of the SiNWs showed asingle-crystalline surface having a nearly circular and smoothprofile with dimensions as low as ∼3 nm. (See ref 11 foradditional HR-TEM images and interfacial details.) In these Si-NW FETs, two bias fields are provided from external sources:the transverse gate voltage applied to the back-gate electrode(VBG) determines the effective width of the channel and thecarrier density inside the channel, while the longitudinal drain−source voltage (VDS) transports carriers through the channelbody.Quantum Confinement in 1D SiNW FETs. First, we

identify quantum size effects in transfer characteristics of p-SiNW FETs. As illustrated in Figure 1, the channel body ofultrathin SiNW FETs is confined in both [001] (top) and[110] (sides) directions, so that motion normal to [110] isrestricted physically by the SiNW channel body and the carriers(holes) are free to move only in the [110] direction, producinga series of quantized energy levels; each energy level forms asubband. Subband energies and hence intersubband structuredepend strongly on the boundary conditions of quantumconfinement, which is closely related to the cross sectional

shape of NWs. Each sub-5 nm SiNW essentially forms a 1Dsystem of electrons, since the diameter of the NWs is close tothe wavelength of an electron (∼10 nm). The corresponding1D subband structure results in a series of sawtooth-likeoscillatory DOS.14,15 (See Figure S1 in Supporting Informa-tion.)As shown in Figure 2, the source−drain current IDS increases

quasi-linearly at low back-gate voltage |VBG|. However, when

|VBG| is increased further, the channel current starts to increasesuperlinearly and several steplike and oscillatory structures areobserved in drain current and transconductance, respectively.Clear shoulders or steplike structures are visible in IDS for lowgate voltages, and this observation is repeated in IDS−VBGcurves for p-SiNW FETs of various body lengths, implying thatthis is related to inherent properties of the strongly confined1D structure of our NW FETs. This observation is in closeagreement with theoretical model analysis of 1D transport,16

which prescribes oscillatory quantum features in transfercharacteristics in NW FETs. Each steplike feature occurs at a“threshold” voltage corresponding to the occupation of a new1D subband by the carriers in the confined device. As |VBG| isincreased, the number of subband conduction channelsincreases and gM (= ∂IDS/∂VBG|VDS=const.) continues to discloserepeated oscillatory behavior. Drain current fluctuations in theregime of subthreshold gate voltages are usually observed onlyat ultralow temperature and small drain bias.3,4,17 However,such quantum oscillation can persist even at room temperatureif NW cross section gets sufficiently small,5−7,11 so thatintersubband separation becomes large enough to counterthermal broadening. As shown in Figure 2, along with steplikestructures in IDS of the SiNW FET, gM shows correspondingperiodic oscillation with valleys corresponding to the flatregions of IDS, despite large thermal broadening expected at 300K. The average period of oscillatory peaks for low VDS isapproximately Δ|VBG| ∼ 0.4 V. The subband separationequivalent to the gate voltage spacing Δ|VBG| ∼ 0.4 V is ΔE≃ 55 ± 5 meV, obtained by numerically solving coupledequations [eqs 2 and 4 in ref 16] for 1D carrier density anddrain current in the NW channel at VDS = 50 mV. The on-

Figure 1. Schematics of SiNW device and HR-TEM image. Three-dimensional schematic of a back-gated SiNW FET patterned on asilicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate of buried oxide (BOX) and a HR-TEM image of an oxidized Si[110] NW channel body cross sectionbefore (a) and after (b) thermal oxidation.

Figure 2. Drain current and transconductance characteristics of aSiNW FET at 300 K. The nanowire has a cross section of 4.3 nm × 5.1nm. The inset shows characteristics of a Si nanobelt (SiNB) FET witha cross section of 4.3 nm × 161 nm for comparison. The data are of p-MOS devices; the horizontal axis is shown as a magnitude of back-gatevoltage for convenience.

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current spectrum shown in Figure 2 indicates that near-threshold carrier conduction (|VBG|∼ few volts) occurs throughseveral subband channels.Transfer characteristics of NW FETs with very dissimilar

cross sectional profile would be different, since quantumconfinement effects are closely related to channel boundaryconditions.15 (See Figures S2−S4 in Supporting Informationfor more on transfer characteristics.) The dissimilarity betweenthe transconductance characteristics of Si-FETs patterned witha NW (Figure 2) versus a NB (inset of Figure 2) is physicallyplausible, recalling features in the DOS of the 1D versus 2Dstructures. A Si FET consisting of a NW with a cross section of4.3 nm × 3.6 nm is essentially a 1D system with a sawtooth likeDOS but that of a NB with cross section of 4.3 nm × 161 nm isa quasi-2D system with stairlike DOS.14,15 (See SupportingInformation Figure S1 for the DOS.) Carrier confinement andthe corresponding DOS can result in oscillations in carrierconductance and mobility. The transfer characteristics of theNB FET (inset of Figure 2) show fast increase of IDS with gatevoltage, while gM shows uniformly increasing conductancepeaks with larger interpeak separation, which is an indication ofthe ladderlike 2D DOS profile resulting from the accumulatedcontributions of individual 2D subband channels. Instead, thecharacteristics of the NW FET reveal relatively quick currentsaturation accompanied with reduction of gM for increasing gatebias, implying behavior of inverse-square-root singular 1D DOSat the bottom of each 1D subband. We also note thatgeometrically narrower dimensions of “cylindrical” NWs resultin both nonuniformly spaced and larger subband separations,but laterally confined NBs resemble a quasi-2D electron gas ofuniformly spaced subband structure (with increasing separa-tions for higher subbands).15

Channel Conductance Behavior and IntersubbandSpectroscopy. Here, we identify quantum size effects inchannel conductance characteristics and related intersubbandseparations in p-SiNW FETs. For a given value of VBG, thechannel conductance, gD(= ∂IDS/∂VDS|VBG=const.), also varies withVDS. (See Figure S5 in Supporting Information.) The periods ofrepeated structures in IDS can be obtained by analyzing gD interms of VDS, and 1D intersubband separation can bedetermined from the gD characteristics with VDS.

18 Figure 3a

shows a contour representation of dgD/dVBG, at 300 K, asfunctions of VDS and VBG. Patterns of strong oscillations in dgD/dVBG are clearly visible. The dark (blue) areas refer to theregions of quickly increasing channel conductance, while light(green) areas represent the regions of quickly decreasingchannel conductance. The zeros and high values of dgD/dVBGcorrespond to conductance plateaus and interplateau transitionregions in IDS−VDS curve. Figure 3b illustrates measured IDS−VDS characteristics of a p-SiNW FET for various values of VBGat 300 K and corresponding gD−VDS (curves for VBG = −0.3and −0.9 V shown). Strong oscillations in gDwith both biasesVDS and VBG are clearly seen with amplitude of oscillationsincreasing at higher values of VDS and VBG. For IDS−VDS curves,the VBG is changed in −0.2 V steps and the lowest trace in thefigure is for VBG= −0.3 V. In general, IDS increases with VDS and|VBG| because both the energy states for current flow and thenumber of 1D conduction channels increase,16 and gD showsstrong oscillation with increasing VDS. In Figure 3b, stairlikeincrease in IDS(VDS) is seen, and we find that the peaks in gD arenearly uniformly spaced. It is also apparent that the period of gDincreases slightly as the magnitude of back-gate voltage VBGincreases, implying that a higher gate field gives rise to furtherconfinement of the carriers in the channel body, leading toincreased separation between subbands; the transverse gatefield induces further confinement (“field-induced confine-ment”) of the carriers in the narrow channel body.From the gD−VDS curves at a given VBG, the subband

separation ΔEn+1,n can be extracted. (See SupportingInformation Text 5.) Let us consider the case of the equilibriumchemical potential μ0 (= EF) located somewhere betweensubband energies En and En+1. (See Supporting InformationFigure S1.) As VDS is increased slowly, IDS remains constantstaying on the same plateau, waiting until either μS gets equal toEn′+1 (V′DS) or μD equal to En′ (V′DS) at V′DS so that a newsubband channel opens and IDS increases to a new value I′DS.On increasing VDS, extrema in gD(VDS) can occur atcharacteristic values of V′DS. If we let the two nearest maximaof gD(VDS) occur at the drain voltages V1 and V2, thecorresponding intersubband separation is given by ΔEn+1,n =eΔVDS with ΔVDS = V2 − V1.

19 Therefore, the period of peaks,ΔVDS, corresponds to the subband separation of the channel

Figure 3. Channel transport behavior of SiNW FET at 300 K. (a) Contour representations of channel conductance derivative (dgD/dVBG) asfunctions of VDS and VBG of a SiNW FET with cross section of 4.3 nm × 5.7 nm. (b) Drain current and channel conductance characteristics. Thechannel conductance traces (bottom two curves) are offset in the vertical direction for clarity and conductance minima are indicated for VBG = −0.3and −0.9 V, respectively.

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body. From the gD(VDS) behavior in Figure 3b, we obtainΔEn+1,n ∼ 65 ± 10 meV for the low-lying few subbands in the p-SiNW FET with cross section of 4.3 nm × 5.7 nm.Remembering that the subband separation increases with thegate bias in a given channel body and is inversely proportionalto the square of the channel radius,15 our experimental value of65 ± 10 meV is in accord with a theoretical prediction of ∼50meV for p-SiNW FET of 5 nm × 5 nm cross section.20 For anorder-of-estimation of subband separations in SiNWs, let ustake a p-SiNW body as an infinitely confined cylindrical 1Delectron system of radius r0 treating gate oxide as an infinitepotential barrier to Si channel body even though the valence-band offset of SiO2−Si is ∼4.5 eV.21 The lowest two subbandseparations ΔEn+1,n are 58.1 and 53.1 meV if we use 2r0 = 5 nmfor NW diameter (71.8 and 65.6 meV if we use 2r0 = 4.5 nm)and m* = 0.15 m0 of light-hole effective mass in the [110]direction, where m0 is the free-electron mass. (See SupportingInformation Text 3.) The lowest hole subband is of lightholelike character.20 This order-of-magnitude estimation ofintersubband separation is also in agreement with ourexperimentally extracted value (ΔEn+1,n ∼ 65 ± 10 meV) forlow-lying subbands in our p-SiNW FET. This extractedsubband separation at 300 K corresponds to ΔEn+1,n ≃ (1.7± 0.24) kBT or in terms of thermal energy to Θ ≃ 510 ± 72 K,which is about one-half of the theoretical thermal broadeningcriterion (ΔE ≃ 3.5 kBT) for clear resolution of quantumoscillations in mesoscopic transport measurements.2,22 Hence,the presence of measurable quantum oscillatory behavior in ourp-SiNW FETs at room temperature is well justified.Confinement-induced quantum oscillatory behavior is known

to be observable provided that the source−drain bias eVDS isnot much larger than subband separation ΔEn,n′. For small VDS,nearly flat and parallel subband channels are expected toproduce clear oscillations in source−drain transfer character-istics as far as eVDS is not much larger than a few times theintersubband separation ΔEn,n′.

17 Under a strong source−drainbias field, the confinement potential is greatly tilted down alongthe channel by the drain bias such that the gate field can inducemore carriers easily. When the chemical potential at the drainside μD is pulled down drastically, the effective channel bodylength is significantly reduced and, as a result, the quantummechanical interference effect can be visible in transportparameters such as conductance and mobility of short-lengthSiNW FETs in the quasi-ballistic regime.23,24 Park et al. also

report enhanced drain current oscillations in inversion mode oftheir Si FET for high VDS albeit at low temperature.25 (SeeFigure 3 in ref 25.) Nevertheless, the continuing (sometimesmuch enhanced) oscillatory behavior in IDS−VBG and gD−VBGat higher VDS in our p-SiNW FETs is not fully understood yet.(See Supporting Information Figure S5.) One possible sourceof this observed effect could be related to strong electric field-induced intersubband scattering near the drain.26 We supposethat extremely nonequilibrium high field dielectric responsewould be responsible for the persisting oscillatory behavior athigh drain−source electric field,27 and more rigorous analysissuch as nonequilibrium Green function approach to quantumtransport equations28 would provide microscopic understand-ing of carrier transport characteristics of such ultrathin quantumdevices.Field-Effect Mobility Behavior of SiNW FETs. Here, we

identify quantum size effects in carrier mobility of p-SiNWFETs. Field-effect mobility (μ) of conventional MOSFETs iswritten as μ = (gML)/(VDSCoxW), where L, W, and Cox (≡ C/(LW)) are the gate length, width, and the gate oxidecapacitance per unit area, respectively. Therefore, mobilitycharacteristics should also show oscillatory behavior withrespect to gate voltage, similar to gM of the SiNW FETs. Forreliable determination of C, finite element mesh simulation wasperformed using COMSOL package with the specific geometryof each device, as measured by HR-TEM imaging.11 Oursimulated capacitance gives Cox ≃ 4.0 mF/m2. Mobilitycharacteristics of p-SiNW FETs are shown in Figure 4 interms of |VBG| with VDS = 50 mV at 300 K. Figure 4a shows μ ofp-SiNW FETs for channel lengths of 2, 3, and 10 μm. Inobtaining the mobility curves shown in Figure 4, we used C =4.15 × 10−17 F, 6.22 × 10−17 F, and 2.05 × 10−16 F for channellength 2, 3, and 10 μm, respectively.The mobility shows clear oscillatory behavior with VBG,

similar to gM. The periodic character of the 1D DOS is directlyreflected as the periodic oscillation in carrier mobility of theSiNW FETs through the simple relation μ ∝ τ ∝ 1/DOS,where 1/τ is some effective scattering rate. Decrease (increase)in μ with |VBG| corresponds to increase (decrease) in the DOS.As the gate bias increases, gradual occupancy of additionalsubbands by carriers results in increase of drain current and thesteepest current increase (and, hence, a mobility peak) occurswhen a new subband channel opens up for carrier transport;the oscillatory behavior occurs when carriers must “wait” for the

Figure 4. Field-effect mobility characteristics of Si FETs of various channel lengths and widths at 300 K. (a) Channel length dependence for threedifferent NW devices with nanowire height of 4.3 nm and width of ∼5.7, 5.1, and 3.6 nm for channel length of 2, 3, and 10 μm, respectively. (b)Comparison of mobilities in NW and NB devices of 3 μm length. The widths of NW and NB devices are 5.1 and 161 nm, respectively.

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Fermi level in the channel to rise to include the subsequentsubband.29 Figure 4a shows that peak mobility occurs atrelatively low gate biases near |VBG| ∼ 2 V, and the overallmobility is enhanced in the NW devices with longer channelbody. Although the NW device with 10 μm long channel bodyshows reduced transconductance behavior (as illustrated inFigure S2 in Supporting Information), it produces the highestpeak mobility value, approaching over ∼900 cm2 V−1 s−1. Thisapparent feature is attributed to the fact that relative carriermobility of various SiNW FETs is controlled by the product ofgM(L/W), since the remaining factor, VDSCox, in the expressionμ = (gML)/(VDSCoxW) is independent of channel crosssectional dimensions; for example, L/W is largest for the 10μm long nanowire device due to long length and smallest NWcross section. The fact that gM does not scale proportionallywith (L/W)−1 implies an intrinsic increase of mobility innanowires with a smaller cross section, like the 4.3 nm × 3.6nm NW device in Figure 4a (also see Figure S2 in SupportingInformation). Figure 4b shows field-effect mobility character-istics of 3 μm long SiNW FET with cross section of 4.3 nm ×5.1 nm and SiNB FET with cross section of 4.3 nm × 161 nm.The disparity in gate bias dependence of field-effect mobility inNW FETs as compared to NB FETs resembles thecorresponding disparity in transport and transconductancecharacteristics of the two devices seen in Figure 2. (See alsoFigure S4 in Supporting Information.) The overall performanceof SiNW and SiNB devices is distinctive due to the uniqueDOS of respective device. For the SiNB FET, the mobilitycontinues to oscillate with VBG, revealing uniformly spacedpeaks, which is an indication of the ladderlike accumulatedDOS profile of 2D subband channels.14 In contrast, mobilitybehavior of the SiNW FET discloses (more clearly at low gatebias fields) the behavior of inverse-square-root singularities atthe bottoms of each 1D subband. At high gate bias, averagemobility is considerably reduced in NW devices, as moresubband channels are opened for carrier transport at highergate bias, due to increased intersubband scattering caused bylarger variation in effective mass of carriers in differentsubband.20 We confirm that higher mobility values observedin our SiNW devices arise from enhanced intersubbandseparation in ultrathin conduction channel bodies as well asimproved structural perfection and cylindrical morphology.Therefore, quantum confinement-induced enhancement in holemobility justifies the recently reported higher performance in p-SiNW FET devices.10,11

Carrier mobility can strongly be influenced by acousticphonon scattering. The carrier-acoustic phonon scattering ratecan be estimated employing deformation potential theory30

along with the Fermi golden rule.31 For a SiNW FET of 5 nmdiameter and of EF = 10 meV, we estimate the acousticscattering time τac ∼ 8.7 × 10−12 s at 300 K. (See SupportingInformation Text 6.) Using τac ∼ 8.7 × 10−12 s and νF (= (2EF/m*)1/2) ≃ 1.5 × 105 m/s, one can calculate the mean free pathfor carriers of light-hole mass to be ac ∼ 1.3 μm. In sub-5 nmSi[110] NW FETs, the lowest two hole subbands are nearlytwo-fold degenerate light-holelike20 so that phonon-assistedintersubband scattering can be neglected within these twonearly degenerate subbands. Furthermore, considering SiDebye energy of 55 meV32 and significantly enhancedintersubband separation (ΔEn,n+1 ∼ 55−75 meV) in sub-5 nmultrathin SiNW FETs, acoustic phonon assisted intersubbandscattering is expected to be rather minimal between thesubsequent low-lying subband channels. All these features

would clearly give rise to a boost in field-effect hole mobility inour p-SiNW FETs. Our observation is in line with theoreticalpredictions of enhanced hole mobility in strongly confinedNWs.13 Since the carrier relaxation time is inversely propor-tional to the DOS, relaxation time τ(E) should also revealoscillatory behavior because of the periodic inverse-square-rootsingular enhanced DOS at the 1D subband edges of thechannel body. Although our analysis of carrier-acoustic phononscattering rate is macroscopic, this estimation of low scatteringrate is also in support of quantum oscillatory transport behavior(oscillatory behavior lends to high peak performance throughunique DOS) in our sub-5 nm SiNW FETs persisting at roomtemperature. Surface roughness scattering could potentially besignificant in such small nanowires. However, we expect it to beminimal because thermal oxidation on plasma etched NWsevidently reduces sidewall roughness.11 Furthermore, as theseFETs are back-gated, the carriers would be confined away fromthe possibly imperfect top oxide-Si interface. Impurityscattering is expected to be negligible due to low doping andreduced volume of ultrathin nanowire devices.11 We supposethe carriers are physically scattered mostly at the metallicsource and drain contacts in our junctionless devices.Additionally, reduced carrier effective mass in an ultrathinSiNW channel body also constitutes enhanced performance(through reduced acoustic phonon assisted intersubband carrierscattering) for transport within the SiNW FETs.In summary, we have presented evidence of confinement-

induced quantum oscillatory behavior prevailing at 300 K indrain−source current, transconductance, and field-effectmobility characteristics of ultrathin top-down fabricatedSiNW FETs. Effects of quantum confinement on channelconductance and transconductance are described in terms ofquantized 1D subband structures and the corresponding unique1D DOS. Carrier mobility characteristics are shown to differdepending on the cross sectional geometry of the channel body,such that disparity in mobility characteristics of SiNW andSiNB devices resemble the corresponding disparity in transferconductance characteristics of the drain−source current.We conclude that strongly enhanced peak field-effect

mobility in p-SiNW FETs results from the unique 1D DOSof inverse-square-root singularity. Ambient operation of SiNWdevices with cross sectional dimensions of sub-5 nm scalesshould be understood in terms of quantum aspects of stronglyconfined carriers. As such, this study would serve as a guide forbasic understanding of physical characteristics of nanoelec-tronics devices consisting of ultrathin SiNW FETs as potentialkey building blocks for future electronics devices. We believequantum confinement effects are a key avenue to unlockperformance and extend scalability of future Si technology aswell as foster new applications of Si devices.33

■ ASSOCIATED CONTENT

*S Supporting InformationAdditional information regarding (1) carriers in confinedstructures, (2) channel length- and width-dependences oftransfer characteristics, (3) intersubband separations incylindrical nanowires, (4) channel conductance behavior withthe gate- and channel-bias voltages, (5) subband spectroscopy,and (6) carrier-acoustic phonon scattering rate and mean freepath. This material is available free of charge via the Internet athttp://pubs.acs.org.

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■ AUTHOR INFORMATION

Corresponding Author*E-mail: (K.S.Y.) [email protected]; (M.J.K.) [email protected].

■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by National Science Foundation(ECCS no. 0955027), KETI through the internationalcollaboration program of COSAR, the State of Texas EmergingTechnology Fund (ETF) FUSION, the World-Class UniversityProgram (MEST through NRF (R31-10026), and by TexasInstruments Inc., Richardson, TX. K.S.Y. acknowledges thesupport from the PNU Specialization Research Grant Programof 2011−2013.

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Nano Letters Letter

dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl203238e | Nano Lett. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXXF