Breakdown enhancement in silicon nanowire p-n junctions

We demonstrate highly reproducible silicon nanowire diodes fabricated with a fully VLSI compatible etching technology, with diameters down to 30 nm. A contact technology based on recrystallized polysilicon enables specific contact resistances as low as rho approximate to 10(-7) Omega cm(2). Our devices show a strongly diameter-dependent breakdown voltage at reverse bias, which we explain in terms of the influence of the surrounding dielectric. We suggest that this technology is suitable for incorporating nanowire-based functionalities into future integrated circuits.