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Emission and absorption of optical phonons in Multigate Silicon Nanowire MOSFETs

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Abstract

In this paper we study the influence of emission/absorption processes due to optical phonons on the electrical properties of multigate silicon nanowire transistors. We show that low-energy phonons reduce drain current through backscattering of carriers by emission/absorption processes while high-energy phonons redistribute the current energy spectrum along the nanowire channel through phonon emission without significantly reducing the drain current drive. The influence of emission/absorption is investigated in different multigate silicon FET structures with uniform channel, single impurity, random doping atom distribution and oxide tunnel barriers. A three-dimensional quantum mechanical device simulator based on the NEGF formalism in coupled mode-space approach is used to model electron transport in the presence of optical phonon scattering mechanism. Electron-phonon scattering is accounted for by adopting the self-consistent Born approximation and using the deformation potential theory.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Science Foundation Ireland grants 05/IN/I888 and 10/IN.1/I2992, the European project SQWIRE under Grant Agreement No. 257111 and the European Community (EC) Seventh Framework Program through the Network of Excellence Nano-TEC under Contract 257964. This work has also been enabled by the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions.

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  1. School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, 6009, Australia

    Nima Dehdashti Akhavan

  2. Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

    Nima Dehdashti Akhavan, Isabelle Ferain, Ran Yu, Pedram Razavi & Jean-Pierre Colinge

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  1. Nima Dehdashti Akhavan
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  2. Isabelle Ferain
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Dehdashti Akhavan, N., Ferain, I., Yu, R. et al. Emission and absorption of optical phonons in Multigate Silicon Nanowire MOSFETs. J Comput Electron 11, 249–265 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-012-0411-1

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