Silicon Device Scaling to the Sub-10-nm Regime

Abstract

In the next decade, advances in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor fabrication will lead to devices with gate lengths (the region in the device that switches the current flow on and off) below 10 nanometers (nm), as compared with current gate lengths in chips that are now about 50 nm. However, conventional scaling will no longer be sufficient to continue device performance by creating smaller transistors. Alternatives that are being pursued include new device geometries such as ultrathin channel structures to control capacitive losses and multiple gates to better control leakage pathways. Improvement in device speed by enhancing the mobility of charge carriers may be obtained with strain engineering and the use of different crystal orientations. Here, we discuss challenges and possible solutions for continued silicon device performance trends down to the sub-10-nm gate regimes.

On the electronic properties of a single dislocation

“…Here, especially the integration of dissimilar materials into specific device regions is a main reason for defect generation. For instance, high mobility channel materials, as Ge, SiGe, or III-V compounds, are integrated 3,4 having different lattice constants to the substrate, which results in high local strains and may induce the generation of dislocations. Therefore, the knowledge about the electronic structure of individual dislocations is an important issue for next generation nanodevices.…”

Variability and reliability analysis in self-assembled multichannel carbon nanotube field-effect transistors

“…1,2 The major bottlenecks are the short-channel effects and the inability to reduce the operation voltage. 3 In recent years, there has been a drive to explore new channel materials that can conceivably extend conventional device scaling.…”

Self-assembled solvato-morphologically controlled photochromic crystals

“…[3][4][5] Until now, most research in self-assembly has been focused on molecular components, but more recently, the development of supramolecular chemistry and the direction of technology toward micrometer-and nanometer-scale structures have broadened this focus to include assembly of larger structures. [2][3][4] In principle, self-assembly can provide a highly innovative solution to the challenges brought by the continued drive to reduce device feature scale 6 while also providing great potential for building complex 3D microstructures in a practical way. 3 Besides molecular aggregation in solution, interfacial self-assembly has attracted great interest in recent years mainly because of the creative and unique principles of this method for forming complex structures, such as self-assembled monolayers, Langmuir-Blodgett films, nanocrystals, clusters, and capsules.…”