Single donor induced negative differential resistance in silicon n-type nanowire metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors

This work presents a theoretical study of the influence of a single donor on the transport properties of silicon nanowire transistors. Using a three-dimensional self-consistent nonequilibrium Green's function approach we find that the donor states induce transitions from resonant to antiresonant Breit-Wigner interferences when increasing the gate or drain voltages. Numerical and analytical calculations demonstrate that these interferences strongly degrade the transistor performances but can also generate a remarkable negative differential resistance behavior. The robustness of this phenomenon with respect to a change of the defect position in the channel is an opportunity to develop novel device properties. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3399999]