Atomistic Understanding of a Single Gated Dopant Atom in a MOSFET

Abstract

ABSTRACTCurrent semiconductor devices have been scaled to such dimensions that we need take an atomistic approach to understand their characteristics. The atomistic nature of these devices provides us with a tool to study the physics of very small ensembles of dopants right up to the limit of a single atom. Control and understanding of a dopants wavefunction and its coupling to the environment in a nanostructure could proof a key ingredient for device technology beyond-CMOS. Here, we will discuss the eigenlevels and transport characteristics a single gated As donor. The donor is incorporated in the channel of wrap-around gate transistors (FinFETs). The measured level spectrum is shown to consist of levels associated with the donors Coulomb potential, levels associated with a triangular well at the gate interface and hybridized combinations of the two. The level spectrum of this system can be well described by a NEMO-3D model, which is based on a numerical tight-binding approximation.