Simulation of carbon nanotube FETs with linear doping profile near the source and drain contacts

We propose carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFETs) in which the source and drain regions of the channel (carbon nanotube) have been doped nonuniformly. The MOSFET like CNTFETs (MOSCNTs) suffer from band to band tunneling which in turn causes the ambipolar conduction. In this paper, we propose a linear doping profile for the carbon nanotube (CNT) near the source and drain contacts. This reduces the gradient of each potential barrier at the interface between the intrinsic and doped parts of the CNT and suppresses the band to band tunneling and ambipolar conduction. The device has been simulated by solving coupled Poisson and Schrodinger equations. Non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method has been used to investigate the transport properties. The uncoupled mode space approach has been used to reduce the computational burden. The calculated energy band diagrams justified improved ambipolar behavior and lower off current. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.