26 pages, 17 figures. To appear in The Oxford Handbook on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology: Frontiers and Advances, eds. A.V. Narlikar and Y.Y. Fu, volume 1, chapter 1
Nanoscale electronic devices are of great interest for all kinds of applications like switching, energy conversion and sensing. The objective of this chapter, however, is not to discuss specific devices or applications. Rather it is to convey the conceptual framework that has emerged over the last twenty years, which is important not only because of the practical insights it provides into the design of nanoscale devices, but also because of the conceptual insights it affords regarding the meaning of resistance and the essence of all non-equilibrium phenomena in general. We present a unified description applicable to a wide variety of devices from molecular conductors to carbon nanotubes to silicon transistors covering different transport regimes from the ballistic to the diffusive limit, based on what we call the NEGF-Landauer approach.
In this paper, we review the 1/f-type noise properties of nanoelectronic devices focusing on three demonstrative platforms: resistive switching memories, graphene nanogaps and single-molecule nanowires. The functionality of such ultrasmall devices is confined to an extremely small volume, where bulk considerations on the noise loose their validity: the relative contribution of a fluctuator heavily depends on its distance from the device bottleneck, and the noise characteristics are sensitive to the nanometer-scale device geometry and the details of the mostly non-classical transport mechanism.…
In this paper we present NANOTCAD2D, a code for the simulation of the electrical properties of semiconductor-based nanoelectronic devices and structures in two-dimensional domains. Such code is based on the solution of the Poisson/Schrödinger equation with density functional theory and of the continuity equation of the ballistic current. NANOTCAD2D can be applied to structures fabricated on III-IV, strained-silicon and silicon-germanium heterostructures, CMOS structures, and can easily be extended to new materials. In particular, in the case of SiGe heterostructures, it computes the effects of…
We investigate electrical conduction through individual oligopeptide molecules thiol-bonded between gold nanocontacts using ab initio and semi-empirical techniques. Our theory explains for the first time these molecules' experimentally observed current-voltage characteristics, including both the magnitude and rectification of the current, and uses no adjustable parameters. We identify the mechanism of the observed current rectification, and predict that it will result in negative differential resistance at moderate biases. Our findings open the way to the realization of protein-based nanoelect…
We derive simple expressions that relate the noise and correlation properties of a general time-dependent quantum conductor to the wave functions of the system. The formalism provides a practical route for numerical calculations of quantum noise in an externally driven system. We illustrate the approach with numerical calculations of the noise properties associated to a voltage pulse applied on a one-dimensional conductor. The methodology is however fully general and can be used for a large class of mesoscopic conductors.
We argue that twisted graphene nanoribbons subjected to a transverse electric field can operate as a variety of nanoelectronic devices, such as tunable tunnel diodes with current-voltage characteristics controlled by the transverse field. Using the density-functional tight-binding method to address the effects of mechanical strain induced by the twisting, we show that the electronic transport properties remain almost unaffected by the strain in relevant cases and propose a simplified tight-binding model which gives reliable results. The transverse electric field creates a periodic electrostati…
Spin-based silicon quantum electronic circuits offer a scalable platform for quantum computation, combining the manufacturability of semiconductor devices with the long coherence times afforded by spins in silicon. Advancing from current few-qubit devices to silicon quantum processors with upwards of a million qubits, as required for fault-tolerant operation, presents several unique challenges, one of the most demanding being the ability to deliver microwave signals for large-scale qubit control. Here we demonstrate a potential solution to this problem by using a three-dimensional dielectric r…
In quantum nanoelectronics, numerical simulations have become an ubiquitous tool. Yet the comparison with experiments is often done at a qualitative level or restricted to a single device with a handful of fitting parameters. In this work, we assess the predictive power of these simulations by comparing the results of a single model with a large experimental data set of 110 devices with 48 different geometries. The devices are quantum point contacts of various shapes and sizes made with electrostatic gates deposited on top of a high mobility GaAs/GaAlAs two dimensional electron gas. We study t…
We demonstrate significant cooling of electrons in a nanostructure below 10 mK by demagnetisation of thin-film copper on a silicon chip. Our approach overcomes the typical bottleneck of weak electron-phonon scattering by coupling the electrons directly to a bath of refrigerated nuclei, rather than cooling via phonons in the host lattice. Consequently, weak electron-phonon scattering becomes an advantage. It allows the electrons to be cooled for an experimentally useful period of time to temperatures colder than the dilution refrigerator platform, the incoming electrical connections, and the ho…
We present a sensitive, tunable radio-frequency resonator designed to detect reactive changes in nanoelectronic devices down to dilution refrigerator temperatures. The resonator incorporates GaAs varicap diodes to allow electrical tuning of the resonant frequency and the coupling to the input line. We find a resonant frequency tuning range of 8.4 MHz at 55 mK that increases to 29 MHz at 1.5 K. To assess the impact on performance of different tuning conditions, we connect a quantum dot in a silicon nanowire field-effect transistor to the resonator, and measure changes in the device capacitance …
Molecular electronics is envisioned as a promising candidate for the nanoelectronics of the future. More than a possible answer to ultimate miniaturization problem in nanoelectronics, molecular electronics is foreseen as a possible way to assemble a large numbers of nanoscale objects (molecules, nanoparticules, nanotubes and nanowires) to form new devices and circuit architectures. It is also an interesting approach to significantly reduce the fabrication costs, as well as the energetical costs of computation, compared to usual semiconductor technologies. Moreover, molecular electronics is a f…
Here we review recent progress in cooling micro/nanoelectronic devices significantly below 10 mK. A number of groups worldwide are working to produce sub-millikelvin on-chip electron temperatures, motivated by the possibility of observing new physical effects and improving the performance of quantum technologies, sensors and metrological standards. The challenge is a longstanding one, with the lowest reported on-chip electron temperature having remained around 4 mK for more than 15 years. This is despite the fact that microkelvin temperatures have been accessible in bulk materials since the mi…
Through the Non-Equilibrium Green's Function (NEGF) formalism, quantum-scale device simulation can be performed with the inclusion of electron-phonon scattering. However, the simulation of realistically sized devices under the NEGF formalism typically requires prohibitive amounts of memory and computation time. Two of the most demanding computational problems for NEGF simulation involve mathematical operations with structured matrices called semiseparable matrices. In this work, we present parallel approaches for these computational problems which allow for efficient distribution of both memor…
The route to reliable quantum nanoelectronic devices hinges on precise control of the electrostatic environment. For this reason, accurate methods for electrostatic simulations are essential in the design process. The most widespread methods for this purpose are the Thomas-Fermi approximation, which provides quick approximate results, and the Schrödinger-Poisson method, which better takes into account quantum mechanical effects. The mentioned methods suffer from relevant shortcomings: the Thomas-Fermi method fails to take into account quantum confinement effects that are crucial in heterostruc…
Electronic transport in semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes is studied by combined scanning gate microscopy and scanning impedance microscopy (SIM). Depending on the probe potential, SIM can be performed in both invasive and non-invasive mode. High-resolution imaging of the defects is achieved when the probe acts as a local gate and simultaneously an electrostatic probe of local potential. A class of weak defects becomes observable even if they are located in the vicinity of strong defects. The imaging mechanism of tip-gating scanning impedance microscopy is discussed.
Quantum point contacts (QPCs) have shown promise as nanoscale spin-selective components for spintronic applications and are of fundamental interest in the study of electron many-body effects such as the 0.7 x 2e^2/h anomaly. We report on the dependence of the 1D Lande g-factor g* and 0.7 anomaly on electron density and confinement in QPCs with two different top-gate architectures. We obtain g* values up to 2.8 for the lowest 1D subband, significantly exceeding previous in-plane g-factor values in AlGaAs/GaAs QPCs, and approaching that in InGaAs/InP QPCs. We show that g* is highly sensitive to …
As semiconductor devices scale to new dimensions, the materials and designs become more dependent on atomic details. NEMO5 is a nanoelectronics modeling package designed for comprehending the critical multi-scale, multi-physics phenomena through efficient computational approaches and quantitatively modeling new generations of nanoelectronic devices as well as predicting novel device architectures and phenomena. This article seeks to provide updates on the current status of the tool and new functionality, including advances in quantum transport simulations and with materials such as metals, top…
Electron-phase modulation in magnetic and electric fields will be presented in In_(0.75)Ga_(0.25)As Aharonov-Bohm (AB) rings. The zero Schottky barrier of this material made it possible to nanofabricate devices with radii down to below 200 nm without carrier depletion. We shall present a fabrication scheme based on wet and dry etching that yielded excellent reproducibility, very high contrast of the oscillations and good electrical gating. The operation of these structures is compatible with closed-cycle refrigeration and suggests that this process can yield coherent electronic circuits that d…
I review the advancements of atomic scale nanoelectronics towards quantum neuromorphics. First, I summarize the key properties of elementary combinations of few neurons, namely long-- and short--term plasticity, spike-timing dependent plasticity (associative plasticity), quantumness and stochastic effects, and their potential computational employment. Next, I review several atomic scale device technologies developed to control electron transport at the atomic level, including single atom implantation for atomic arrays and CMOS quantum dots, single atom memories, Ag$_2$S and Cu$_2$S atomic swit…
Fragile quantum effects such as single electron charging in quantum dots or macroscopic coherent tunneling in superconducting junctions are the basis of modern quantum technologies. These phenomena can only be observed in devices where the characteristic spacing between energy levels exceeds the thermal energy, $k_\textrm{B}T$, demanding effective refrigeration techniques for nanoscale electronic devices. Commercially available dilution refrigerators have enabled typical electron temperatures in the $10$ to $100\,$mK regime, however indirect cooling of nanodevices becomes inefficient due to st…
We report on the transport properties of novel carbon nanostructures made of partially unzipped carbon nanotubes, which can be regarded as a seamless junction of a tube and a nanoribbon. We find that graphene nanoribbons act at certain energy ranges as a perfect valley filters for carbon nanotubes, with the maximum possible conductance. Our results show that a partially unzipped carbon nanotube is a magnetoresistive device, with a very large value of the magnetoresistance. We explore the properties of several structures combining nanotubes and graphene nanoribbons, demonstrating that they beha…
We present a simple, general purpose, quantum Monte-Carlo algorithm for out-of-equilibrium interacting nanoelectronics systems. It allows one to systematically compute the expansion of any physical observable (such as current or density) in powers of the electron-electron interaction coupling constant $U$. It is based on the out-of-equilibrium Keldysh Green's function formalism in real-time and corresponds to evaluating all the Feynman diagrams to a given order $U^n$ (up to $n=15$ in the present work). A key idea is to explicitly sum over the Keldysh indices in order to enforce the unitarity o…
An atomistic model based on the spin-restricted extended Huckel theory (EHT) is presented for simulating electronic structure and I-V characteristics of graphene devices. The model is applied to zigzag and armchair graphene nano-ribbons (GNR) with and without hydrogen passivation, as well as for bilayer graphene. Further calculations are presented for electric fields in the nano-ribbon width direction and in the bilayer direction to show electronic structure modification. Finally, the EHT Hamiltonian and NEGF (Nonequilibrium Green's function) formalism are used for a paramagnetic zigzag GNR to…
The spin of an electron or a nucleus in a semiconductor [1] naturally implements the unit of quantum information -- the qubit -- while providing a technological link to the established electronics industry [2]. The solid-state environment, however, may provide deleterious interactions between the qubit and the nuclear spins of surrounding atoms [3], or charge and spin fluctuators in defects, oxides and interfaces [4]. For group IV materials such as silicon, enrichment of the spin-zero 28-Si isotope drastically reduces spin-bath decoherence [5]. Experiments on bulk spin ensembles in 28-Si cryst…
Searching of optimal parameters of nanoelectronic devices is a primal problem in their modeling. We solve this problem on example of the electron ballistic switch in quantum network model. For this purpose, we use a computing scheme in which closed channels are taking into account. It allows calculating correctly a scattering matrix of the switch and, consequently, the electric currents flowing through it. Without losing generality, we consider model of two-junction switch at room temperature. Its character is localization of the controlling electric field in the domain before branching. We op…
The excellent properties of transistors, wires, and sensors made from single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) make them promising candidates for use in advanced nanoelectronic systems. Gas-phase growth procedures such as the high pressure decomposition of carbon monoxide (HiPCO) method yield large quantities of small diameter semiconducting SWNTs, which are ideal for use in nanoelectronic circuits. As-grown HiPCO material, however, commonly contains a large fraction of carbonaceous impurities that degrade properties of SWNT devices. Here we demonstrate a purification, deposition, and fabricatio…
Electronic transport properties through some model quantum systems are re-visited. A simple tight-binding framework is given to describe the systems where all numerical calculations are made using the Green's function formalism. First, we demonstrate electronic transport in four different polycyclic hydrocarbon molecules, namely, benzene, napthalene, anthracene and tetracene. It is observed that electron conduction through these molecular wires is highly sensitive to molecule-to-electrode coupling strength and quantum interference of electronic waves passing through different branches of the m…
Understanding of the electrical contact properties of semiconductor nanowire (NW) field effect transistors (FETs) plays a crucial role in employing semiconducting NWs as building blocks for future nanoelectronic devices and in the study of fundamental physics problems. Here, we report on a study of the contact properties of Ti/Au, a widely used contact metal combination, to individual InSb NWs via both two-probe and four-probe transport measurements. We show that a Schottky barrier of height $Φ_{\rm{SB}}\sim20\ \rm{meV}$ is present at the metal-InSb NW interfaces and its effective height is ga…
We characterize germanium-vacancy GeVn complexes in silicon using first-principles Density Functional Theory calculations with screening-dependent hybrid functionals. We report on the local geometry and electronic excited states of these defects, including charge transition levels corresponding to the addition of one or more electrons to the defect. Our main theoretical result concerns the GeV complex, which we show to give rise to two excited states deep in the gap, at -0.51 and -0.35 eV from the conduction band, consistently with the available spectroscopic data. The adopted theoretical sche…
Deep Learning Accelerated Quantum Transport Simulations in Nanoelectronics: From Break Junctions to Field-Effect Transistors
School of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学人工智能与数据科学学院）；AI for Science Institute（AI for Science研究院）；Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University（北京大学纳米尺度科学与技术中心）；Department of Physics, McGill University（麦吉尔大学物理系）；Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, School of Electronics, Peking University（北京大学纳米器件物理与化学重点实验室）；DP Technology（DP技术）；Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学苏州市先进研究所）；Suzhou Big Data & AI Research and Engineering Center（苏州市大数据与人工智能研究与工程中心）
Controlled placement of nanomaterials at predefined locations with nanoscale precision remains among the most challenging problems that inhibit their large-scale integration in the field of semiconductor process technology. Methods based on surface functionalization have a drawback where undesired chemical modifications can occur and deteriorate the deposited material. The application of electric-field assisted placement techniques eliminates the element of chemical treatment; however, it requires an incorporation of conductive placement electrodes that limit the performance, scaling, and dens…
Nonreciprocal effects in nanoelectronic devices offer unique possibilities for manipulating electron transport and engineering quantum electronic circuits for information processing purposes. However, a lack of rigorous theoretical tools is hindering this development. Here, we provide a general input-output description of nonreciprocal transport in solid-state quantum dot architectures, based on quantum optomechanical analogs. In particular, we break reciprocity between coherently-coupled quantum dots by dissipation-engineering in which these (so-called) primary dots are mutually coupled to au…
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 implemented a nanoelectronic interface between graphene field effect transistors (FETs) and soluble proteins. This enables production of bioelectronic devices that combine functionalities of the biomolecular and inorganic components. The method serves to link polyhistidine-tagged proteins to graphene FETs using the tag itself. Atomic Force Microscopy and Raman spectroscopy provide structural understanding of the bio/nano hybrid; current-gate voltage measurements are used to elucidate the electronic properties. As an example application, we functionalize graphene FETs with fluorescent protei…
The emergence of two-dimensional (2D) materials has attracted a great deal of attention due to their fascinating physical properties and potential applications for future nanoelectronic devices. Since the first isolation of graphene, a Dirac material, a large family of new functional 2D materials have been discovered and characterized, including insulating 2D boron nitride, semiconducting 2D transition metal dichalcogenides and black phosphorus, and superconducting 2D bismuth strontium calcium copper oxide, molybdenum disulphide and niobium selenide, etc. Here, we report the identification of …
Efficient heat dissipation to the substrate is crucial for optimal device performance in nanoelectronics. We develop a theory of electronic thermal boundary conductance (TBC) mediated by remote phonon scattering for the single-layer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors MoS$_{2}$ and WS$_{2}$, and model their electronic TBC with different dielectric substrates (SiO$_{2}$, HfO$_{2}$ and Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$). Our results indicate that the electronic TBC is strongly dependent on the electron density, suggesting that it can be modulated by the gate electrode in field-effect transistors,…
Graphene has been proposed as a promising material for future nanoelectronics because of its unique electronic properties. Understanding the scaling behavior of this new nanomaterial under common experimental conditions is of critical importance for developing graphene-based nanoscale devices. We present a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study on the influence of edge disorder and bulk disorder on the minimum conductivity of graphene ribbons. For the first time, we discovered a strong non-monotonic size scaling behavior featuring a peak and saturation minimum conductivity. Through e…
In this review article, we discuss the synthesis, properties, and novel device applications of low-symmetry 2D materials, including black phosphorus and its arsenic alloys, compounds with black-phosphorus like structure such as the monochalcogenides of group IV elements like Ge and Sn, as well as the class of low-symmetry transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials such as rhenium disulfide (ReS2) and rhenium diselenide (ReSe2). Their unique physical properties resulting from the low symmetry in-plane crystal structure and the prospects of their application in nanoelectronics and nanophot…
The development of nanoscale solid-state devices exploiting the promising topological surface states of topological insulator materials requires careful device engineering and improved materials quality. For instance, the introduction of a substrate, device contact or the formation of oxide layers can cause unintentional doping of the material, spoiling the sought-after properties. In support of this, nanoscale imaging tools can provide useful materials information without the need for complex device fabrication. Here we study Bi$_2$Se$_3$ nanoribbons suspended across multiple material stacks …
The discovery of graphene and its fascinating capabilities have triggered an unprecedented interest in inorganic two-dimensional (2D) materials. Van der Waals (vdW) layered materials as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), and the more recently re-discovered black phosphorus (BP) indeed display an exceptional technological potential for engineering nano-electronic and nano-photonic devices and components by design, offering a unique platform for developing new devices with a variety of ad-hoc properties. In this perspective article, we provide a vis…
Recently synthesized two-dimensional graphene-like material referred to as graphenylene is a semiconductor with a narrow direct bandgap that holds great promise for nanoelectronic applications. The significant bandgap increase can be provided by the strain applied to graphenylene crystal lattice or by using nanoribbons instead of extended layers. In this paper, we present the systematic study of the electronic, optical and thermoelectric properties of graphenylene nanoribbons using calculations based on the density functional theory. Estimating the binding energies, we substantiate the stabili…
Semiconductor devices are scaled down to the level which constituent materials are no longer considered continuous. To account for atomistic randomness, surface effects and quantum mechanical effects, an atomistic modeling approach needs to be pursued. The Nanoelectronic Modeling Tool (NEMO 3-D) has satisfied the requirement by including emprical $sp^{3}s^{*}$ and $sp^{3}d^{5}s^{*}$ tight binding models and considering strain to successfully simulate various semiconductor material systems. Computationally, however, NEMO 3-D needs significant improvements to utilize increasing supply of process…
2D nanoelectronics based on single-layer MoS2 offers great advantages for both conventional and ubiquitous applications. This paper discusses the large-scale CVD growth of single-layer MoS2 and fabrication of devices and circuits for the first time. Both digital and analog circuits are fabricated to demonstrate its capability for mixed-signal applications.
Many nanoelectronic devices rely on thin dielectric barriers through which electrons tunnel. For instance, aluminium oxide barriers are used as Josephson junctions in superconducting electronics. The reproducibility and drift of circuit parameters in these junctions are affected by the uniformity, morphology, and composition of the oxide barriers. To improve these circuits the effect of the atomic structure on the electrical response of aluminium oxide barriers must be understood. We create three-dimensional atomistic models of aluminium oxide tunnel junctions and simulate their electronic tra…
