The Ideal Nanowire Transistor-Materials Development for Contact-Doped ZnO Nanowires

• Applicant: Dr. Hagen Klauk
• Subject Area: Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
• Term: from 2010 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 172125987

ZnO nanowires with a diameter of about 20 to 100 nm are of interest for high-performance field-effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits for flexible electronics. Single-crystalline ZnO nanowires are readily prepared from solution, can be suspended in a variety of solvents to allow deposition and alignment on a variety of substrates, and have electron mobilities exceeding 20 cm2/Vs. For scaling purpose it is necessary to have a strategy for reducing the channel length of the devices. But the performance of ZnO nanowire FETs with short channel length is limited by the large contact resistance that results from the energy barrier at the interface between the ZnO and the metal contacts. Also, making nanowire FETs with short channels introduces the challenge of connecting small objects using high-throughput (i.e., low-resolution) patterning techniques. We propose to solve these challenges by creating ZnO nanowires with self-aligned, selectively doped contacts. We will demonstrate the operation of these “ideal” n-i-n nanowires by making FETs and circuits on a single ZnO nanowire using an ultra-thin gate dielectric based on a self-assembled monolayer. The total length of the nanowires will exceed 10 μm, making them accessible by conventional photolithography or printing. Owing to the doped contact regions, the contact resistance will be greatly reduced. And by adjusting the length of the intrinsic region at the center of the nanowires we will obtain FETs with a channel length of less than 100 nm.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: USA
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Alberto Salleo