Performance Comparison of InAs, InSb, and GaSb n-Channel Nanowire Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors in the Ballistic Transport Limit

Ballistic performances of InAs, InSb, and GaSb nanowire field-effect transistors (NWFETs) were theoretically investigated. We found that InAs and InSb NWFETs exhibit similar device performances due to 1D band structure effects. Furthermore, although these In-based NWFETs suffer from the density-of-states (DOS) bottleneck, a lower power switching is expected. On the other hand, GaSb NWs have multiple energy subbands at conduction band minima, as a result of the projection of L-valleys which thus improves the DOS. In particular, a (110)-oriented GaSb NW has an improved DOS and a high electron velocity simultaneously, and thus, it could be a strong competitor to In-based NWFETs. (C) 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics