Breakdown enhancement in silicon nanowire p-n junctions

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Silicon nanowires are promising for electronic devices.
• Fabrication of reliable nanowire devices is challenging.
• Integration into existing semiconductor manufacturing processes is desired.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate reproducible fabrication of silicon nanowire diodes.
• To characterize their electrical properties, including contact resistance and breakdown voltage.
• To assess their suitability for integration into future integrated circuits.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a fully VLSI-compatible etching technology for silicon nanowire fabrication.
• Employing a recrystallized polysilicon contact technology.
• Measuring specific contact resistances and reverse bias breakdown voltage.

Main Results:

• Achieved highly reproducible silicon nanowire diodes with diameters down to 30 nm.
• Obtained specific contact resistances as low as approximately 10^-7 Ohm cm^2.
• Observed a strong diameter-dependent breakdown voltage, influenced by the surrounding dielectric.

Conclusions:

• The developed fabrication and contact technology is suitable for silicon nanowire diodes.
• The diameter-dependent breakdown voltage offers insights into device physics.
• This technology enables the incorporation of nanowire functionalities into future integrated circuits.