Silicon nanowire pinch-off FET : Basic operation and analytical model

An analytical model has been constructed for a silicon nanowire pinch-off FET. This is a uniformly doped nanowire with surrounding oxide and gate. For large radii nanowires, in the long channel approximation, we obtain an analytical expression for the depletion length in the radial direction. Making use of the gradual channel approximation, we are able to investigate the current both above and below threshold. The results obtained from the analytical model are compared with the self-consistent numerical solutions of a self-consistent Poisson solver. We show that the subthreshold slope is 60 mV/dec and good I(ON)/I(OFF) ratios and I(ON) values are obtained for this device.