A Triode Device with a Gate Controllable Schottky Barrier: Germanium Nanowire Transistors and Their Applications

Abstract

Electrical contacts often dominate charge transport properties at the nanoscale because of considerable differences in nanoelectronic device interfaces arising from unique geometric and electrostatic features. Transistors with a tunable Schottky barrier between the metal and semiconductor interface might simplify circuit design. Here, germanium nanowire (Ge NW) transistors with Cu3Ge as source/drain contacts formed by both buffered oxide etching treatments and rapid thermal annealing are reported. The transistors based on this Cu3Ge/Ge/Cu3Ge heterostructure show ambipolar transistor behavior with a large on/off current ratio of more than 105 and 103 for the hole and electron regimes at room temperature, respectively. Investigations of temperature‐dependent transport properties and low‐frequency current fluctuations reveal that the tunable effective Schottky barriers of the Ge NW transistors accounted for the ambipolar behaviors. It is further shown that this ambipolarity can be used to realize binary‐signal and data‐storage functions, which greatly simplify circuit design compared with conventional technologies.

Electron Transport in AlGaAs Cylindrical Quantum Wire Sandwiched between Two GaAs Cylindrical Quantum Well Wires

“…The advantages of axially combined materials allow countless applications, from nanoelectronics to the medical field, and allow a better understanding of the mechanism of one-dimensional transport of electrons. CQWRs are of particular interest for electronic transmission applications, including energy conversion and storage systems [7], nanobarcodes [8], single-electron transistors [9], resonant tunnel diodes [10], and chemical sensors [11]. Nano-heterosystems containing cylindrical quantum wires (CQWRs) are interesting because they allow guiding and controlling the electron density along the one-dimensional quantum wires, it can be used to manufacture high speed switchable lasers, field effect transistors, sensors and photovoltaic systems [12].…”