Step-necking growth of silicon nanowire channels for high performance field effect transistors
Abstract Ultrathin silicon nanowires (diameter <30 nm) with strong electrostatic control are ideal quasi-1D channel materials for high-performance field effect transistors, while a short channel is desirable to enhance driving current. Typically, the patterning of such delicate channels relies on...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56376-x |
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| author | Lei Wu Zhiyan Hu Lei Liang Ruijin Hu Junzhuan Wang Linwei Yu |
| author_facet | Lei Wu Zhiyan Hu Lei Liang Ruijin Hu Junzhuan Wang Linwei Yu |
| author_sort | Lei Wu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Ultrathin silicon nanowires (diameter <30 nm) with strong electrostatic control are ideal quasi-1D channel materials for high-performance field effect transistors, while a short channel is desirable to enhance driving current. Typically, the patterning of such delicate channels relies on high-precision lithography, which is not applicable for large area electronics. In this work, we demonstrate that ultrathin and short silicon nanowires channels can be created through a local-curvature-modulated catalytic growth, where a planar silicon nanowires is directed to jump over a crossing step. During the jumping dynamic, the leading droplet undergoes significant stretching, producing a short necking segment of <100 nm in length, with a reduced diameter from approximately 45 nm to <25 nm. Compared to the FETs with uniform silicon nanowire channels, our step-necked silicon nanowire FETs exhibit substantially enhanced on/off current ratio Ion/off > 8 × 107 and a sharper subthreshold swing of 70 mV/dec, thanks to a stronger gating effect in the middle channel and markedly improved electric contacts at the thicker source/drain ends. These findings mark the pioneering experimental demonstration of catalytic growth acting as a deterministic fabrication method for precisely crafting engineered FET channels, ideally fitting the requirements of high-performance large-area displays and sensors. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b3ac618b506d4672a331a8bd2cab4280 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-b3ac618b506d4672a331a8bd2cab42802025-01-26T12:41:09ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-011611910.1038/s41467-025-56376-xStep-necking growth of silicon nanowire channels for high performance field effect transistorsLei Wu0Zhiyan Hu1Lei Liang2Ruijin Hu3Junzhuan Wang4Linwei Yu5School of Electronics Science and Engineering/National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, Nanjing UniversitySchool of Electronics Science and Engineering/National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, Nanjing UniversitySchool of Electronics Science and Engineering/National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, Nanjing UniversityCollege of Physical Science and Technology/Microelectronics Industry Research Institute, Yangzhou UniversitySchool of Electronics Science and Engineering/National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, Nanjing UniversitySchool of Electronics Science and Engineering/National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, Nanjing UniversityAbstract Ultrathin silicon nanowires (diameter <30 nm) with strong electrostatic control are ideal quasi-1D channel materials for high-performance field effect transistors, while a short channel is desirable to enhance driving current. Typically, the patterning of such delicate channels relies on high-precision lithography, which is not applicable for large area electronics. In this work, we demonstrate that ultrathin and short silicon nanowires channels can be created through a local-curvature-modulated catalytic growth, where a planar silicon nanowires is directed to jump over a crossing step. During the jumping dynamic, the leading droplet undergoes significant stretching, producing a short necking segment of <100 nm in length, with a reduced diameter from approximately 45 nm to <25 nm. Compared to the FETs with uniform silicon nanowire channels, our step-necked silicon nanowire FETs exhibit substantially enhanced on/off current ratio Ion/off > 8 × 107 and a sharper subthreshold swing of 70 mV/dec, thanks to a stronger gating effect in the middle channel and markedly improved electric contacts at the thicker source/drain ends. These findings mark the pioneering experimental demonstration of catalytic growth acting as a deterministic fabrication method for precisely crafting engineered FET channels, ideally fitting the requirements of high-performance large-area displays and sensors.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56376-x |
| spellingShingle | Lei Wu Zhiyan Hu Lei Liang Ruijin Hu Junzhuan Wang Linwei Yu Step-necking growth of silicon nanowire channels for high performance field effect transistors Nature Communications |
| title | Step-necking growth of silicon nanowire channels for high performance field effect transistors |
| title_full | Step-necking growth of silicon nanowire channels for high performance field effect transistors |
| title_fullStr | Step-necking growth of silicon nanowire channels for high performance field effect transistors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Step-necking growth of silicon nanowire channels for high performance field effect transistors |
| title_short | Step-necking growth of silicon nanowire channels for high performance field effect transistors |
| title_sort | step necking growth of silicon nanowire channels for high performance field effect transistors |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56376-x |
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