We consider the electronic transport properties of phosphorus (P) doped silicon nanowires (SiNWs). By combining ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations with a recursive Green's function method, we calculate the conductance distribution of up to 200 nm long SiNWs with different distributions of P dopant impurities. We find that the radial distribution of the dopants influences the conductance properties significantly: Surface doped wires have longer mean-free paths and smaller sample-to-sample fluctuations in the cross-over from ballistic to diffusive transport. These findings can be quantitatively predicted in terms of the scattering properties of the single dopant atoms, implying that relatively simple calculations are sufficient in practical device modeling
We report a new method to introduce metal atoms into silicon wafers, using negligible thermal budget. Molecular thin films are irradiated with ultra-violet (UV) light releasing metal species into the semiconductor substrate. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) show that Mn is incorporated into Si as an interstitial dopant. We propose that our method can form the basis of a generic low-cost, low-temperature technology that could lead to the creation of ordered dopant arrays.
Motivated by recent transport experiments and proposed atomic-scale semiconductor devices, we present measurements that extend the reach of scanned-probe methods to discern the properties of individual dopants tens of nanometers below the surface of a silicon sample. Using a capacitance-based approach, we have both spatially-resolved individual subsurface boron acceptors and detected spectroscopically single holes entering and leaving these minute systems of atoms. A resonance identified as the B+ state is shown to shift in energy from acceptor to acceptor. We examine this behavior with respec…
The thermoelectric properties of cubic zincblend silicon carbide nanowires (SiCNWs) with nitrogen impurities and vacancies along [111] direction are theoretically studied by means of atomistic simulations. It is found that the thermoelectric figure of merit ZT of SiCNWs can be significantly enhanced by doping N impurities together with making Si vacancies. Aiming at obtaining a large ZT, we study possible energetically stable configurations, and disclose that, when N dopants locate at the center, a small number of Si vacancies at corners are most favored for n-type nanowires, while a large num…
We report on spectroscopy of a single dopant atom in silicon by resonant tunneling between source and drain of a gated nanowire etched from silicon on insulator. The electronic states of this dopant isolated in the channel appear as resonances in the low temperature conductance at energies below the conduction band edge. We observe the two possible charge states successively occupied by spin-up and spin-down electrons under magnetic field. The first resonance is consistent with the binding energy of the neutral $D^0$ state of an arsenic donor. The second resonance shows a reduced charging ener…
Electronic band structure and energetic stability of two types of and oriented silicon nanowires in beta-Sn phase with the surface terminated by hydrogen atoms were studied using density functional theory. It was found that beta-Sn nanowires are metastable with zero band gap against to alpha-diamond nanowires. The relative energy of the studied wires tends to the energy of the bulk silicon crystal in beta-Sn phase.
We study by means of density-functional calculations the role of lateral surface reconstructions in determining the electrical properties of <100> silicon nanowires. The different lateral reconstructions are explored by relaxing all the nanowires with crystalline bulk silicon structure and all possible ideal facets that correspond to an average diameter of 1.5 nm. We show that the reconstruction induces the formation of ubiquitous surface states that turn the wires into semi-metallic or metallic.
Silicon nanowires are prepared by the method of the two-step metal-assisted wet chemical etching. We have analyzed the structure of solid, rough and porous nanowire surfaces of boron-doped silicon substrates with resistivities of ρ> 1000 Ωcm, ρ= 14-23 Ωcm, ρ< 0.01 Ωcm by scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen gas adsorption. Silicon nanowires prepared from highly-doped silicon reveal mesopores on their surface. However, we found a limit for pore formation. Pores were only formed by etching below a critical H$_2$O$_2$ concentration (c$_{\mbox{H}_2\mbox{O}_2}$ < 0.3 M). Furthermore, we have d…
We report on the heterogeneous nucleation of catalyst-free InAs nanowires on Si (111) substrates by chemical beam epitaxy. We show that nanowire nucleation is enhanced by sputtering the silicon substrate with energetic particles. We argue that particle bombardment introduces lattice defects on the silicon surface that serve as preferential nucleation sites. The formation of these nucleation sites can be controlled by the sputtering parameters, allowing the control of nanowire density in a wide range. Nanowire nucleation is accompanied by unwanted parasitic islands, but by careful choice of ann…
Silicon nanowires grown along the <100>-direction with a bulk Si core are studied with density functional calculations. Two surface reconstructions prevail after exploration of a large fraction of the phase space of nanowire reconstructions. Despite their energetical equivalence, one of the reconstructions is found to be strongly metallic while the other one is semi-metallic. This electronic-structure behavior is dictated by the particular surface states of each reconstruction. These results imply that doping is not required in order to obtain good conducting Si nanowires.
We report low-temperature electrical transport studies of molecule-scale silicon nanowires. Individual nanowires exhibit well-defined Coulomb blockade oscillations characteristic of charge addition to a single nanostructure with length scales up to at least 400 nm. Further studies demonstrate coherent charge transport through discrete single particle quantum levels extending the whole device, and show that the ground state spin configuration follows the Lieb-Mattis theorem. In addition, depletion of the nanowires suggests that phase coherent single-dot characteristics are accessible in a regim…
The giant piezoresistance (PZR) previously reported in silicon nanowires is experimentally investigated in a large number of surface depleted silicon nano- and micro-structures. The resistance is shown to vary strongly with time due to electron and hole trapping at the sample surfaces. Importantly, this time varying resistance manifests itself as an apparent giant PZR identical to that reported elsewhere. By modulating the applied stress in time, the true PZR of the structures is found to be comparable with that of bulk silicon.
The atomic structure and elastic properties of Y-silicon nanowire junctions of fork- and bough-types were theoretically studied and effective Young modulus were calculated using the Tersoff interatomic potential. In the final stages of bending, new bonds between different parts of the Y-shaped wires are formed. It was found that the stiffness of the nanowires considered can be compared with the stiffness of carbon nanotube Y-junctions.
Networks of silicon nanowires possess intriguing electronic properties surpassing the predictions based on quantum confinement of individual nanowires. Employing large-scale atomistic pseudopotential computations, as yet unexplored branched nanostructures are investigated in the subsystem level, as well as in full assembly. The end product is a simple but versatile expression for the bandgap and band edge alignments of multiply-crossing Si nanowires for various diameters, number of crossings, and wire orientations. Further progress along this line can potentially topple the bottom-up approach …
Utilizing atomistic lattice dynamics and scattering theory, we study thermal transport in nanodevices made of 10 nm thick silicon nanowires, from 10 to 100 nm long, sandwiched between two bulk reservoirs. We find that thermal transport in devices differs significantly from that of suspended extended nanowires, due to phonon scattering at the contact interfaces. We show that thermal conductance and the phonon transport regime can be tuned from ballistic to diffusive by varying the surface roughness of the nanowires and their length. In devices containing short crystalline wires phonon tunneling…
The downscaling of silicon-based structures and proto-devices has now reached the single atom scale, representing an important milestone for the development of a silicon-based quantum computer. One especially notable platform for atomic scale device fabrication is the so-called SiP delta-layer, consisting of an ultra dense and sharp layer of dopants within a semiconductor host. Whilst several alternatives exist, phosphorus dopants in silicon have drawn the most interest, and it is on this platform that many quantum proto-devices have been successfully demonstrated. Motivated by this, both calc…
A simple and highly reproducible single electron transistor (SET) has been fabricated using gated silicon nanowires. The structure is a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor made on silicon-on-insulator thin films. The channel of the transistor is the Coulomb island at low temperature. Two silicon nitride spacers deposited on each side of the gate create a modulation of doping along the nanowire that creates tunnel barriers. Such barriers are fixed and controlled, like in metallic SETs. The period of the Coulomb oscillations is set by the gate capacitance of the transistor and ther…
By means of first-principles density functional theory calculations, we find that hydrogen-passivated ultrathin silicon nanowires (SiNWs) along [100] direction with symmetrical multiple surface dangling bonds (SDBs) and boron doping can have a half-metallic ground state with 100% spin polarization, where the half-metallicity is shown quite robust against external electric fields. Under the circumstances with various SDBs, the H-passivated SiNWs can also be ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic semiconductors. The present study not only offers a possible route to engineer half-metallic SiNWs witho…
Band gap modification for small-diameter (1 nm) silicon nanowires resulting from the use of different species for surface termination is investigated by density functional theory calculations. Because of quantum confinement, small-diameter wires exhibit a direct band gap that increases as the wire diameter narrows, irrespective of surface termination. This effect has been observed in previous experimental and theoretical studies for hydrogenated wires. For a fixed cross-section, the functional group used to saturate the silicon surface significantly modifies the band gap, resulting in relative…
Nanowires have unique optical properties [1-4] and are considered as important building blocks for energy harvesting applications such as solar cells. [2, 5-8] However, due to their large surface-to-volume ratios, the recombination of charge carriers through surface states reduces the carrier diffusion lengths in nanowires a few orders of magnitude,[9] often resulting in the low efficiency (a few percent or less) of nanowire-based solar cells. [7, 8, 10, 11] Reducing the recombination by surface passivation is crucial for the realization of high performance nanosized optoelectronic devices, bu…
We perform classical molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate the application of kinked silicon nanowires (KSiNWs) as nanoscale springs. The spring-like oscillation in gigahertz frequency range is successfully actuated using a similar procedure as the actuation of a classical mass spring oscillator. We detect the spring-like mechanical oscillation and some other low-frequency oscillations by the energy spectrum analysis, where a dimensional crossover phenomenon is observed for the transverse mode in KSiNWs with decreasing aspect ratio. Our findings shed light on the elastic properties of …
We investigate the relaxation dynamics of photogenerated carriers in silicon nanowires consisting of a crystalline core and a surrounding amorphous shell, using femtosecond time-resolved differential reflectivity and transmission spectroscopy at photon energies of 3.15 eV and 1.57 eV. The complex behavior of the differential transmission and reflectivity transients is the mixed contributions from the crystalline core and the amorphous silicon on the nanowire surface and the substrate where competing effects of state filling and photoinduced absorption govern the carrier dynamics. Faster relaxa…
As the ultimate miniaturization of semiconductor devices approaches, it is imperative that the effects of single dopants be clarified. Beyond providing insight into functions and limitations of conventional devices, such information enables identification of new device concepts. Investigating single dopants requires sub-nanometre spatial resolution, making scanning tunnelling microscopy an ideal tool. However, dopant dynamics involve processes occurring at nanosecond timescales, posing a significant challenge to experiment. Here we use time-resolved scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectrosc…
Single-walled carbon nanotubes are a promising material as quantum light sources at room temperature and as nanoscale light sources for integrated photonic circuits on silicon. Here we show that integration of dopant states in carbon nanotubes and silicon microcavities can provide bright and high-purity single photon emitters on silicon photonics platform at room temperature. We perform photoluminescence spectroscopy and observe enhancement of emission from the dopant states by a factor of $\sim$100, and cavity-enhanced radiative decay is confirmed using time-resolved measurements, where $\sim…
Vertically aligned silicon micro/nanowire arrays of different sizes have been synthesized by combining the modified metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) and reactive ion etching (RIE) methods. This is a novel lithography-free method to fabricate silicon micro/nanowire arrays. The size of micro/nanowire arrays is controlled by controlling the etching rate and diameter of silica particles. The silicon micro/nanowire geometry can utilize for efficient collection of photo-generated charge carriers from impure silicon wafers, which have a short minority carrier diffusion length also act as a self…
By using molecular dynamics simulations, we study thermal conductivity of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with different cross sectional geometries. It is found that thermal conductivity decreases monotonically with the increase of surface-to-volume ratio (SVR). More interestingly, a simple universal linear dependence of thermal conductivity on SVR is observed for SiNWs with modest cross sectional area (larger than 20 nm^2), regardless of the cross sectional geometry. As a result, among different shaped SiNWs with the same cross sectional area, the one with triangular cross section has the lowest th…
The low-field electron mobility in rectangular silicon nanowire (SiNW) transistors was computed using a self-consistent Poisson-Schrödinger-Monte Carlo solver. The behavior of the phonon-limited and surface-roughness-limited components of the mobility was investigated by decreasing the wire width from 30 nm to 8 nm, the width range capturing a crossover between two-dimensional (2D) and one-dimensional (1D) electron transport. The phonon-limited mobility, which characterizes transport at low and moderate transverse fields, is found to decrease with decreasing wire width due to an increase in th…
We report on a technique enabling electrical control of the contact silicidation process in silicon nanowire devices. Undoped silicon nanowires were contacted by pairs of nickel electrodes and each contact was selectively silicided by means of the Joule effect. By a realtime monitoring of the nanowire electrical resistance during the contact silicidation process we were able to fabricate nickel-silicide/silicon/nickel- silicide devices with controlled silicon channel length down to 8 nm.
We report the study of single dangling bonds (DB) on the hydrogen terminated silicon (100) surface using a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope (LT-STM). By investigating samples prepared with different annealing temperatures, we establish the critical role of subsurface arsenic dopants on the DB electronic properties. We show that when the near surface concentration of dopants is depleted as a result of $1250°C$ flash anneals, a single DB exhibits a sharp conduction step in its I(V) spectroscopy that is not due to a density of states effect but rather corresponds to a DB charge state…
Piezoresistance is the change in the electrical resistance, or more specifically the resistivity, of a solid induced by an applied mechanical stress. The origin of this effect in bulk, crystalline materials like Silicon, is principally a change in the electronic structure which leads to a modification of the charge carriers effective mass. The last few years have seen a rising interest in the piezoresistive properties of semiconductor nanostructures, motivated in large part by claims of a giant piezoresistance effect in Silicon nanowires that is more than two orders of magnitude bigger than th…
Silicon nanowires (Si NW) are ideal candidates for solution processable field effect transistors (FETs). The interface between the nanowire channel and the gate dielectric plays a crucial role in the FET performance, and it can be responsible for unwanted effects such as hysteresis of the I-V characteristics due to threshold voltage shift when the gate voltage is applied. Using gate-voltage bias stress measurements we show that a large hysteresis of up to 40V in Si NW FETs with SiO2 dielectric is mainly due to the holes traps at the nanowire/SiO2 interface. An approach for reducing this hyster…
Using an approximate time-dependent density functional theory method, we calculate the absorption and luminescence spectra for hydrogen passivated silicon nanoscale structures with large aspect ratio. The effect of electron confinement in axial and radial directions is systematically investigated. Excited state relaxation leads to significant Stokes shifts for short nanorods with lengths less than 2 nm, but has little effect on the luminescence intensity. The formation of self-trapped excitons is likewise observed for short nanostructures only; longer wires exhibit fully delocalized excitons w…
We report electrical measurements of a single arsenic dopant atom in the tunnel-barrier of a silicon SET. As well as performing electrical characterization of the individual dopant, we study series electrical transport through the dopant and SET. We measure the triple points of this hybrid double dot, using simulations to support our results, and show that we can tune the electrostatic coupling between the two sub-systems.
The influence of local oxidation in silicon nanowires on hole transport, and hence the effect of varying the oxidation state of silicon atoms at the wire surface, is studied using density functional theory in conjunction with a Green's function scattering method. For silicon nanowires with growth direction along [110] and diameters of a few nanometers, it is found that the introduction of oxygen bridging and back bonds does not significantly degrade hole transport for voltages up to several hundred millivolts relative to the valence band edge. As a result, the mean free paths are comparable to…
We have simultaneously measured conductance and thermoelectric power (TEP) of individual silicon and germanium/silicon core/shell nanowires in the field effect transistor device configuration. As the applied gate voltage changes, the TEP shows distinctly different behaviors while the electrical conductance exhibits the turn-off, subthreshold, and saturation regimes respectively. At room temperature, peak TEP value of $\sim 300 μ$V/K is observed in the subthreshold regime of the Si devices. The temperature dependence of the saturated TEP values are used to estimate the carrier doping of Si nano…
Silicon has dominated the microelectronics industry for the last 50 years. With its zero nuclear spin isotope (28Si) and low spin orbit coupling, it is believed that silicon can become an excellent host material for an entirely new generation of devices that operate under the laws of quantum mechanics [1}. Semiconductor nanowires however, offer huge potential as the next building blocks of nano-devices due to their one-dimensional structure and properties [2]. We describe a fabrication process to prepare doped vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) grown silicon nanowire samples in a 2- and 4-terminal measu…
We have performed thermal conductance measurements on individual single crystalline silicon suspended nanowires. The nanowires (130 nm thick and 200 nm wide) are fabricated by e-beam lithography and suspended between two separated pads on Silicon On Insulator (SOI) substrate. We measure the thermal conductance of the phonon wave guide by the 3 method. The cross-section of the nanowire approaches the dominant phonon wavelength in silicon which is of the order of 100 nm at 1K. Above 1.3K the conductance behaves as T3, but a deviation is measured at the lowest temperature which can be att…
With the advances in miniaturization, understanding and controlling properties of significant technological systems like silicon in nano regime assumes considerable importance. It turns out that small silicon clusters in the size range of 15-20 atoms are unstable upon heating and in fact fragment in the temperature range of 1200 K to 1500 K. In the present work we demonstrate that it is possible to stabilize such clusters by introducing appropriate dopant (in this case Ti). Specifically, by using the first principle density functional simulations we show that Ti doped Si$_{16}$, having the Fra…
Learning and Controlling Silicon Dopant Transitions in Graphene using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy
Université de Montréal（蒙特利尔大学）；Mila（米拉研究所）；McGill University（麦吉尔大学）；Reliant AI（Reliant人工智能公司）；Google DeepMind（谷歌DeepMind）；University of Tennessee, Knoxville（田纳西大学诺克斯维尔分校）；Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）
In quantum simulation, many-body phenomena are probed in controllable quantum systems. Recently, simulation of Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonians using cold atoms revealed previously hidden local correlations. However, fermionic many-body Hubbard phenomena such as unconventional superconductivity and spin liquids are more difficult to simulate using cold atoms. To date the required single-site measurements and cooling remain problematic, while only ensemble measurements have been achieved. Here we simulate a two-site Hubbard Hamiltonian at low effective temperatures with single-site resolution using su…
The potential of silicon nanowires (SiNWs), (diameter < 10 nm) to transform into rigid bundle-like structures with distinct phonon confinement under high pressure (<= 15 GPa), instead of amorphising as per previous reports, is demonstrated using in-situ Raman spectroscopy. The newly observed splitting of the second order transverse optical (2TO) Raman mode into 2TO(L) and 2TO(W) phonon modes at >= 5 GPa establishes a highly anisotropic and mode-dependent pressure response of these SiNWs. Properties of the novel structures are superior compared to other nano-structured silicon and bulk-Si in te…
We simulate spin polarized transport of electrons along a silicon nanowire and along a silicon two dimensional channel. Spin density matrix calculations are used along with the semi-classical Monte Carlo approach to model spin evolution along the channel. Spin dephasing in silicon is caused due to Rashba Spin Orbit Interaction (structural inversion asymmetry) which gives rise to D'yakonov-Perel' relaxation. Spin relaxation length in a nanowire is found to be an order of magnitude higher than that in a 2-D channel. The effect of driving electric field on spin relaxation is also investigated. Th…
In this paper we review the theory of silicon nanowires. We focus on nanowires with diameters below 10 nm, where quantum effects become important and the properties diverge significantly from those of bulk silicon. These wires can be efficiently treated within electronic structure simulation methods and will be among the most important functional blocks of future nanoelectronic devices. Firstly, we review the structural properties of silicon nanowires, emphasizing the close connection between the growth orientation, the cross-section and the bounding facets. Secondly, we discuss the electronic…
We study sub-surface arsenic dopants in a hydrogen terminated Si(001) sample at 77 K, using scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy. We observe a number of different dopant related features that fall into two classes, which we call As1 and As2. When imaged in occupied states the As1 features appear as anisotropic protrusions superimposed on the silicon surface topography, and have maximum intensities lying along particular crystallographic orientations. In empty-state images the features all exhibit long-range circular protrusions. The images are consistent with buried dopants that are…
We report about the experimental observation and characterization of nonlinear optical properties of individual silicon nanowires of different dimensions. Our results show that the nonlinear light has different components, one of them corresponding to the second harmonic generation (SHG). The SHG strongly depends on the polarization of the optical excitation and nanowire diameter, and gives access to the local electromagnetic field intensity distribution. Furthermore, we show that the second harmonic, when observed, is enhanced compared to bulk silicon and is sensitive to optical resonances su…
As the conventional silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) approaches its scaling limits; many novel device structures are being extensively explored. Among them, the silicon nanowire transistor (SNWT) has attracted broad attention. To understand device physics in depth and to assess the performance limits of SNWTs, simulation is becoming increasingly important. The objectives of this work are: 1) to theoretically explore the essential physics of SNWTs (e.g., electrostatics, transport and band structure) by performing computer-based simulations, and 2) to assess the…
We computationally study the effect of uniaxial strain in modulating the spontaneous emission of photons in silicon nanowires. Our main finding is that a one to two orders of magnitude change in spontaneous emission time occurs due to two distinct mechanisms: (A) Change in wave function symmetry, where within the direct bandgap regime, strain changes the symmetry of wave functions, which in turn leads to a large change of optical dipole matrix element. (B) Direct to indirect bandgap transition which makes the spontaneous photon emission to be of a slow second order process mediated by phonons.…
We combine the ideas of scaling theory and universal conductance fluctuations with density-functional theory to analyze the conductance properties of doped silicon nanowires. Specifically, we study the cross-over from ballistic to diffusive transport in boron (B) or phosphorus (P) doped Si-nanowires by computing the mean free path, sample averaged conductance <G>, and sample-to-sample variations std(G) as a function of energy, doping density, wire length, and the radial dopant profile. Our main findings are: (i) the main trends can be predicted quantitatively based on the scattering properties…
We study spin polarized transport in silicon germanium nanowires using a semiclassical monte carlo approach. Spin depolarization in the channel is caused due to D'yakonov-Perel (DP) relaxation associated with Rashba spin orbit coupling and due to Elliott- Yafet (EY) relaxation. We investigate the dependence of spin dephasing on germanium mole fraction in silicon germanium nanowires. The spin dephasing lengths decrease with an increase in the germanium mole fraction. We also find that the temperature has a strong influence on the dephasing rate and spin relaxation lengths increase with decrease…
The absorption spectra of silicon nanowires (SiNW) are calculated using semi-empirical $sp^{3}d^{5}s^{*}$ tight binding (TB) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) methods. The role of diameter, wave function symmetry, strain and crystallographic direction in determining the absorption are discussed. We find that compressive strain can change the band edge absorption by more than one order of magnitude due to change in wave function symmetry. In addition, photon polarization with respect to the nanowire axis significantly alters the band edge absorption. Overall, the band edge absorption of [110]…
The geometrical and electronic structure properties of $<100>$ and $<110>$ silicon nanowires in the absence of surface passivation are studied by means of density-functional calculations. As we have shown in a recent publication [R. Rurali and N. Lorente, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 94}, 026805 (2005)] the reconstruction of facets can give rise to surface metallic states. In this work, we analyze the dependence of geometric and electronic structure features on the size of the wire and on the growth direction.
We present a novel reconfigurable metal-oxide-semiconductor multi-gate transistor that can host a quadruple quantum dot in silicon. The device consist of an industrial quadruple-gate silicon nanowire field-effect transistor. Exploiting the corner effect, we study the versatility of the structure in the single quantum dot and the serial double quantum dot regimes and extract the relevant capacitance parameters. We address the fabrication variability of the quadruple-gate approach which, paired with improved silicon fabrication techniques, makes the corner state quantum dot approach a promising …
Based on atomistic calculations of electron and phonon transport, we propose to use surface decorated Silicon nanowires (SiNWs) for thermoelectric applications. Two examples of surface decorations are studied to illustrate the underlying deas: Nanotrees and alkyl functionalized SiNWs. For both systems we find, (i) that the phonon conductance is significantly reduced compared to the electronic conductance leading to high thermoelectric figure of merit, $ZT$, and (ii) for ultra-thin wires surface decoration leads to significantly better performance than surface disorder.
The thermal conductance of straight and corrugated monocrystalline silicon nanowires has been measured between 0.3 K and 5 K. The difference in the thermal transport between corrugated nanowires and straight ones demonstrates a strong reduction in the mean free path of the phonons. This averaged mean free path is remarkably smaller than the smaller diameter of the nanowire, evidencing a phonon thermal transport reduced below the Casimir limit. Monte Carlo simulations highlight that this effect can be attributed to significant multiple scattering of ballistic phonons occuring on the corrugated …
In this letter, we explore the bandstructure effects on the performance of ballistic silicon nanowire transistors (SNWTs). The energy dispersion relations for silicon nanowires are evaluated with an sp3d5s* tight binding model. Based on the calculated dispersion relations, the ballistic currents for both n-type and p-type SNWTs are evaluated by using a semi-numerical ballistic model. For large diameter nanowires, we find that the ballistic p-SNWT delivers half the ON-current of a ballistic n-SNWT. For small diameters, however, the ON-current of the p-type SNWT approaches that of its n-type cou…
Nanowires have been considered for a number of applications in nanometrology. In such a context, we have explored the possibility of using ultrathin twisted nanowires as torsion nanobalances to probe forces and torques at molecular level with high precision, a nanoscale system analogous to the Coulomb's torsion balance electrometer. In order to achieve this goal, we performed a first principles investigation on the structural and electronic properties of twisted silicon nanowires, in their pristine and hydrogenated forms. The results indicated that wires with pentagonal and hexagonal cross sec…
We present a systematic study of various ways (top gates, local doping, substrate bias) to fabricate and tune multi-dot structures in silicon nanowire multigate MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors). The carrier concentration profile of the silicon nanowire is a key parameter to control the formation of tunnel barriers and single-electron islands. It is determined both by the doping profile of the nanowire and by the voltages applied to the top gates and to the substrate. Local doping is achieved with the realisation of up to two arsenic implantation steps in combination…
