3D simulation of Si nanowire FETs: impact of elastic and inelastic scattering

Marco Pala IMEP-LAHC, Grenoble, France Main collaboration with S. Poli, ARCES Bologna C. Buran, IMEP-LAHC M. Mouis, IMEP-LAHC

Outline Introduction Models and methods Transport properties of Silicon nanowire FETs at room temperature
Surface roughness scattering Remote Coulomb scattering Electron-phonon scattering

Semiconductor nanowire FET Important for scaling of nanoelectronics Optimal electrostatic control Specific transport properties due to 1D geometry Accurate modeling requires:
Quantum confinement Interference effects Spatial fluctuations 3D description Inelastic scattering due to phonons or other mechanisms (e-e, )

3D NE Greens functions
Goal: Schrdinger equation with open-boundary conditions at the contacts (out-of equilibrium)
n n+1

Tight-binding Hamiltonian

On-site Greens functions connected via the Dyson equation Recursive strategy to compute the total Greens function Meier-Wingreen formalism valid also for inelastic transport

G L ,n

G R , n +1

G = G0 + GU G0

JL

e dE r < = 2 L Im 2GD ( E ) f L ( E ) + GD (E)

Surface roughness in SiNWs

Examples:

2 C (r ) = me Lm

2r

Potential profiles and electron densities for two different slices

We consider devices with 20nm gate length. Quasiballistic regime: a proper statistical treatment is adopted
S. Poli et al., IEEE-TED 55, 2968 (2008)

Effect of roughness on the potential profile

Large spatial fluctuations of the subband profile

Such fluctuations are almost insensitive to the dielectric screening at large overdrive

Size effect: effective mobility

Small wire section: 3x3 nm2
eff GL = qN1D

Different behaviour depending on the SR realization Effective mobility can even increase with Vgs

Different overdrive regimes

Possible localization phenomena at low Vgs-Vt

LOW BIAS

HIGH BIAS

Large section: more than 25 nm2

We recover a standard picture: the effective mobility decreases with Vgs Predominance of the mode-mixing with respect to the potential-fluctuations mechanism

Lateral charge distribution

Size effect: for nanowires with large section the electron density distribute towards the surface at high bias Such effect is less efficient in narrow nanowires where quantum confinement dominates with respect to the electrostatic control of the gate
3x3 nm2 5x5 nm2 7x7 nm2

HIGH BIAS

Effect of SR on the current on SiNWs Varying RMS of roughness

Unchanged sub-threshold voltage slope Threshold voltage shift

C. Buran et al., IEEE-TED 57 (2009)

SR-limited mobility Extracted after subtraction of the ballistic component from the effective mobility

SR =

1 eff

1 1 bal

Remote Coulomb scattering Charged defects at the interface of different materials like in high-k gate stacks Random distribution of point-like defects at the interfaces Main parameters are NFix and tIL

S. Poli et al., IEEE-TED 56, 1191 (2009)

1D subband profiles Subband for different overdrive regimes Influence of screening effects Possibility of cluster formation

Effects on the current Current detrimental in the subthreshold regime Larger sub-threshold voltage slope

Increase of tunneling current Transmission probability for different densities of fixed charges

Effective mobility Importance of screening effects Strong variation between different realizations due to the presence of clusters

RCS-limited mobility Extracted via the Mathiessen rule Almost linear dependence on the linear density

Parameters Influence of fixed-charge density Influence of interfacial layer thickness Inefficiency of screening at short distances

Electron-phonon scattering Elastic scattering: Acoustic phonons Inelastic scattering: Optical phonons Both g-type and f-type for Si are considered Self-energies within self-consistent Born approx
<,> <,> < ,> ( E ) = D0 G

< ,> op , j ,

<,> ac ,

(r1 , r2 , E ) =
2 Dop ,j 2 j

2 k BTDac 2 2 v s

G< ,> (r1 , r2 , E ) (r1 r2 )

(r1 , r2 , E ) =

(n

' < , > ) 1 g j G ' (r1 , r2 , E j ) (r1 r2 ) j '

Spectrum of current density Current spectrum changes in different point of the device
0.01 Ballistic Ph@source Ph@channel LG=20 nm VGS=0 V

J/J0 (eV )

0.005

0 0.1

0.1 0.2 Energy (eV)

0.3

0.4

Low-field mobility PH + SR

PH + SR =

1 eff

1 1 bal

S. Poli et al., IEEE-EDL (2009)

Channel length dependence Comparison between SR- and PH-limited mobility

LDOS for short and long devices

Conclusion Analysis of transfer characteristics and scatteringlimited mobility in Si NWs Investigation of important elastic scattering mechanisms
Surface roughness Remote Coulomb scattering

Investigation of elastic-inelastic phonon scattering within the self-consistent Born approximation

Acoustic phonons Optical phonons

Apparent mobility
It scales linearly with the device length
eff = GL qN1D

mt=0.19m0 for W>4nm mt=0.23m0 for W4nm

Apparent mobility decreases with Vgs due to the effect of the degeneracy

eff

F1 (F ) F1/ 2 (F )

F =

E F E0 k BT

Current with elastic and inelastic scattering Nanowires with different lengths Significant tunneling current for Lch=10 nm