High-Performance Vertical Nanowire Heterojunction Transistors

该项目的目标是开发基于锗纳米线/硅异质结构的高性能垂直隧道晶体管和电路。随着半导体器件的持续缩放导致功耗增加，人们对“绿色电子”的兴趣日益浓厚。该研究旨在制造具有最佳栅极耦合和可控Si/Ge结界面的纳米线形式的高性能，低功耗，隧道晶体管。最终目标是将垂直纳米线晶体管与传统的硅电路集成在一起，用于未来的电子应用。其智力上的优点是利用具有突变硅/锗结的垂直锗纳米线结构，同时提高了隧道晶体管的导通电流和降低了亚阈值斜率。优化的纳米线生长将反过来解决与锗在硅上集成相关的晶格错配问题，并产生所需的掺杂轮廓和结界面。无结晶体管的形成，高k集成，混合电路集成和潜在的污染问题也将被解决。这些研究将进一步推进纳米级材料生长、界面控制和混合器件集成方面的知识。更广泛的影响是新设备可能对半导体研究产生的潜在破坏性影响，以及当研究与教育紧密结合时，该计划将带来的社会影响。教育和推广计划包括对本科生和研究生的培训，将从研究中获得的知识纳入研究生和本科生课程，并通过出版物和推广活动广泛传播知识。来自弱势群体的学生和市中心高需求学区的高中生将特别参与。

The objective of this program is to develop high-performance vertical tunneling transistors and circuits based on Ge nanowire/Si heterostructures. There is a growing interest in "green electronics" as continued scaling of semiconductor devices has resulted in increasing power dissipation. The proposed study intends to fabricate high-performance, low-power, tunneling transistors in the nanowire form with optimal gate coupling and controlled Si/Ge junction interface. The ultimate goal is to integrate the vertical nanowire transistors with conventional silicon circuits for future electronics applications.The intellectual merit is to simultaneously improve the on-current and reduce the sub-threshold slope of the tunneling transistor by utilizing a vertical Ge nanowire structure with an abrupt Si/Ge junction. Optimized nanowire growth will in turn address the lattice mismatch problem associated with integrating germanium on silicon, and produce desired doping profiles and junction interfaces. Junctionless transistor formation, high-k incorporation, hybrid circuit integration and potential contamination problems will also be addressed. These studies will further advance knowledge in materials growth, interface control and hybrid device integration at the nanoscale. The broader impacts are the potential disruptive effect the new device can have on semiconductor research, and the societal impacts this program will bring when research is tightly coupled with education. The education and outreach program includes training of undergraduate and graduate students, incorporating knowledge learned from research into graduate and undergraduate courses, and broadly disseminating the knowledge through publications and outreach activities. Students from underrepresented groups and high-school students in inner-city, high-need school districts will be specifically engaged.