Transport and performance of a gate all around InAs nanowire transistor

The transport physics and performance metrics of a gate all around an InAs nanowire transistor are studied using a three-dimensional quantum simulation. The transistor action of an InAs nanowire transistor occurs by modulating the transmission coefficient of the device. This action is different from a conventional metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor, where the transistor action occurs by modulating the charge in the channel. The device has 82% tunneling current in the off-state and 81% thermal current in the on-state. The two current components become equal at a gate bias at which an approximate source-channel flat-band condition is achieved. Prior to this gate bias, the tunneling current dominates and the thermal current dominates beyond it. The device has an on/off current ratio of 7.84 x 10(5) and an inverse subthreshold slope of 63 mV dec(-1). The transistor operates in the quantum capacitance limit with a normalized transconductance value of 14.43 mS mu m(-1), an intrinsic switching delay of 90.1675 fs, and an intrinsic unity current gain frequency of 6.8697 THz.