GaN Nanowire n-MOSFET With 5 nm Channel Length for Applications in Digital Electronics

We study the performance of GaN nanowire n-MOSFETs (GaN-NW-nFETs) with a channel length, Lg = 5 nm based on fully ballistic quantum transport simulations. Our simulation results show high ION = 1137 mu A/mu m and excellent on-off characteristics with Q = g(m)/SS = 188 mu S-decade/mu m-mV calculated for I-off = 1 nA/mu m and V-GS = V-DS = V-CC = 0.5 V. These results represent: 1) similar to 15% higher I-on than Si-NW-nFET and 2) similar to 17% better Q than Si-NW-nFET, all with Lg = 5 nm, thus suggesting the GaN n-channel, an intriguing option for application in logic at sub-10-nm channel length. The superior performance of the GaN channel compared with Si and other semiconductors at this scaled dimension can be attributed to its relatively higher effective mass of electron and lower permittivity.