AC Performance Of Nanoelectronics

Nano electronic devices fall into two classes: tunnel devices and ballistic transport devices. In Tunnel devices single electron effects occur if the tunnel resistance is larger than h/e = 25 K §Ù. In Ballistic devices with cross sectional dimensions in the range of quantum mechanical wavelength of electrons, the resistance is of order h/e = 25 K §Ù. This high resistance may seem to restrict the operational speed of nano electronics in general. However the capacitance values and drain source spacing are typically small which gives rise to very small RC times and transit times of order of ps or less. Thus the speed may be very large, up to THz range. The goal of this seminar is to present the models an performance predictions about the effects that set the speed limit in carbon nanotube transistors, which form the ideal test bed for understanding the high frequency properties of Nano electronics because they may behave as ideal ballistic 1d transistors.


Ballistic Transport- An Outline
When carriers travel through a semiconductor material, they are likely to be scattered by any number of possible sources, including acoustic and optical phonons, ionized impurities, defects, interfaces, and other carriers. If, however, the distance traveled by the carrier is smaller than the mean free path, it is likely not to encounter any scattering events; it can, as a result, move ballistically through the channel. To the first order, the existence of ballistic transport in a MOSFET depends on the value of the characteristic scattering length (i.e. mean free path) in relation to channel length of the transistor.


This scattering length, l , can be estimated from the measured carrier mobility where t is the average scattering time, m* is the carrier effective mass, and vth is the thermal velocity. Because scattering mechanisms determine the extent of ballistic transport, it is important to understand how these depend upon operating conditions such as normal electric field and ambient temperature.