GaN Nanowire MOSFET with Near-Ideal Subthreshold Slope

Wrap-around gate GaN nanowire MOSFETs using Al₂O₃ as gate oxide have been experimentally demonstrated. The fabricated devices exhibit a minimum subthreshold slope of 60 mV/dec, an average subthreshold slope of 68 mV/dec over three decades of drain current, drain-induced barrier lowering of 27 mV/V, an on-current of 42 microA/microm (normalized by nanowire circumference), on/off ratio over 10⁸, an intrinsic transconductance of 27.8 microS/microm, for a switching efficiency figure of merit, Q=g_m/SS of 0.41 microS/microm-dec/mV. These performance metrics make GaN nanowire MOSFETs a promising candidate for emerging low-power applications such as sensors and RF for the internet of things.