Silicon Nanowire Electromechanical Switch for Logic Device Application
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1018-EE09-07
Silicon Nanowire Electromechanical Switch for Logic Device Application Qiliang Li1, Sang-Mo Koo2, Monica D. Edelstein1, John S. Suehle1, and Curt A. Richter1 1 National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899 2 Kwangwoon University, Seoul, 139-701, Korea, Republic of
ABSTRACT In this paper, we have reported the fabrication and characterization of nanowire electromechanical switches consisting of chemical-vapor-deposition grown silicon nanowires suspended over metal electrodes. The devices operate as transistors with the suspended part of the nanowire bent to touch metal electrode via electromechanical force by applying voltage. The reversible switching, large on/off current ratio, small subthreshold slope and low switching energy compared to current CMOSFET make the switches very attractive for logic device application. In addition, we have developed a physical model to investigate the switching characteristics and extract the material properties. INTRODUCTION During the past three decades of great success, silicon Complementary Metal-OxideSemiconductor field effect transistor (CMOS FET) has been aggressively scaled down to achieve better performance and lower power consumption. Beyond the CMOS scaling, which becomes more difficult in the future, next-generation logic device requires alternative strategies, such as resonant tunneling devices, single electronic transistors, molecular and spin devices [1-5]. However, the operation of these devices still represents charge-based mechanism with the similar thermodynamic limit with CMOS. New technologies based on something different with electronic charge, such as Nano-Electromechanical System (NEMS) and optical computing, may extend the functionalities and open up exponential opportunity for future electronic circuitry [1]. We have previously reported the fabrication of a simple NEMS test structure consisting of a Si nanowire (SiNW) suspended over metal electrodes [6]. In this work, we demonstrated the integration and characterization of 2-terminal (2-T) and 3-terminal (3-T) electromechanical switches (EMSs). These switches are turned on/off via the electromechanical force by applying a voltage between a SiNW suspended as a cantilever and bottom metal electrodes. The switching of the EMS, which can be operated as the field effect transistors, depends on the nanowire material’s mechanical properties and the device geometry. The reversible switching, small subthreshold slope, low switching energy and large on/off ratio indicated that the SiNW EMS is very attractive for logic application. In addition, we have developed a model to investigate the physics of the electromechanical switching and mechanical properties of nanowires. It should be noted that nanowire NEMS has been used to investigate the mechanical properties of nanowires and nanotubes [7, 8], and NEMS switch has been fabricated with carbon nanotubes by using EBeam lithography [9]. A suspended SiNW switching system used in this study may provide an alternative and perhaps simpl
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