Noise spectroscopy of nanowire structures: fundamental limits and application aspects

Abstract

Nanowires (NWs) have recently emerged as a new class of materials demonstrating unique properties which may completely differ from their bulk counterparts. The main aim of this work is to give an overview of results on noise and fluctuation phenomena in NW-based structures. We emphasize that noise is one of the main parameters, which determines the characteristics of the device structures and sets the fundamental limits of the working principles and operation regimes of NWs as key electronic elements, including field-effect transistors (FETs). We review the studies focusing on the understanding of noise sources and the main application aspects of noise spectroscopy. Noise application aspects will provide information about the performance of core-shell NW structures, the gate-coupling effect and its advantages for detection of the useful signal with prospects to extract it from the noise level, random telegraph signal as a useful tool for enhanced sensitivity, novel components of noise reflecting dielectric polarization fluctuation processes and fluctuation phenomena as a sensitive tool for molecular charge dynamics in NW FETs. Moreover, noise spectroscopy assists understanding of electronic transport regimes and effects, transport peculiarities in topological materials and aspects reflecting Majorana bound states. Thus noise in NWs on the basis of Si, Ge, Si/Ge, GaAs, InAs, InGaAs, Au, GaAs/ AlGaAs, GaAsSb, SnO 2 , GaN, ZnO, CuO, In 2 O 3 and AlGaN/GaN materials reflects a great variety of phenomena and processes, information about their stability and reliability. It can be utilized for numerous different applications in nanoelectronics and bioelectronics.

High performance Fin-FET electrochemical sensor with high-k dielectric materials

“…Owing to the miniaturisation achieved by nanowires, the sensitivity of label free sensing increased from μM to fM and the incubation time needed for heavy molecules to reach the equilibrium decreased from days to hours or minutes 14,15 . Nevertheless the improved sensitivity of nano devices came at the cost of impacting negatively the signal to noise ratio and the variability of the current signal among devices 16,17 . Recently we proposed a Fin-FET design with a high aspect ratio of the height to width (>10), in which the width of the sensor was comparable to that of nanowires, but due to the bigger height, it resulted in a planar conduction channel 18 .…”

Temperature‐Dependent Noise and Transport in Silicon Two‐Layer Nanowire FETs

“…Silicon nanowire (NW) field‐effect transistors (FETs) are reliable and robust electronic devices with a huge potential in particular for applications in biosensors and bioelectronics due to the unique and tunable electrical properties of silicon nanowires . These devices demonstrate improved electrostatic control capabilities and outstanding transport properties, however there are still many critical issues such as short‐channel effects, increased low‐frequency noise, leakage current, and high‐field parasitic effects that give rise to new challenges in design and optimization of NW FET devices as well as in their practical applications including sensing .…”

Effect of Gamma Irradiation on Dynamics of Charge Exchange Processes between Single Trap and Nanowire Channel

“…Moreover, this effect can be successfully used to enhance the sensitivity of a biosensor to the proton concentration and surface potential change in liquid-gated FETs. [27][28][29] In this respect, single trap phenomena can be used as a novel sensitive approach for studying local changes in surface potential and for monitoring the surface potential change in a wide application range. However, the single trap phenomenon is usually a purely statistical event, which is a result of random distribution of the traps in the gate dielectric and therefore its parameters vary from device to device.…”

“…Therefore, the RTS effect is promising from the point of view of spin nanoelectronics and quantum information processing. Moreover, this effect can be successfully used to enhance the sensitivity of a biosensor to the proton concentration and surface potential change in liquid‐gated FETs . In this respect, single trap phenomena can be used as a novel sensitive approach for studying local changes in surface potential and for monitoring the surface potential change in a wide application range.…”