Adam Jönsson1, Johannes Svensson1, Elisabetta Maria Fiordaliso2, Erik Lind1, Markus Hellenbrand3, Lars-Erik Wernersson1. 1. Department of Electrical and Information Technology, Lund University, Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden. 2. National Centre for Nano Fabrication and Characterization, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej 307 & 126, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark. 3. Department of Material Science & Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, 27 Charles Babbage Road, CB3 0FS Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Abstract
Thin vertical nanowires based on III-V compound semiconductors are viable candidates as channel material in metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) due to attractive carrier transport properties. However, for improved performance in terms of current density as well as contact resistance, adequate characterization techniques for resolving doping distribution within thin vertical nanowires are required. We present a novel method of axially probing the doping profile by systematically changing the gate position, at a constant gate length L g of 50 nm and a channel diameter of 12 nm, along a vertical nanowire MOSFET and utilizing the variations in threshold voltage V T shift (∼100 mV). The method is further validated using the well-established technique of electron holography to verify the presence of the doping profile. Combined, device and material characterizations allow us to in-depth study the origin of the threshold voltage variability typically present for metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-grown III-V nanowire devices.
Thin vertical nanowires based on III-V compound semiconductors are viable candidates as channel material in metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) due to attractive carrier transport properties. However, for improved performance in terms of current density as well as contact resistance, adequate characterization techniques for resolving doping distribution within thin vertical nanowires are required. We present a novel method of axially probing the doping profile by systematically changing the gate position, at a constant gate length L g of 50 nm and a channel diameter of 12 nm, along a vertical nanowire MOSFET and utilizing the variations in threshold voltage V T shift (∼100 mV). The method is further validated using the well-established technique of electron holography to verify the presence of the doping profile. Combined, device and material characterizations allow us to in-depth study the origin of the threshold voltage variability typically present for metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-grown III-V nanowire devices.
Vertical III–V
nanowires (NWs) provide new capabilities
in many semiconductor device technologies such as light-emitting diodes,[1] solar cells,[2,3] and improved
complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistor architectures
attractive beyond the scaling limit for the conventional Si technology.[4−8] Thin nanowires allow for greater flexibility in material integration
due to their smaller footprint, which enables a larger lattice mismatch
by radial strain relaxation. The possibility of accommodating larger
lattice mismatch is a key benefit for bottom-up integration of nanowires
on various substrates as well as for forming heterostructures within
the nanowire to an extent not possible in planar technologies.[9,10] However, adequate control of doping levels and gradients within
the nanowire is essential for both low contact and access resistances
and also for enabling good electrostatics at scaled dimensions. Therefore,
new and device-specific characterization methods are critical to support
further development of thin vertical III–V nanowire devices.Vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) epitaxial growth from Au
particles enables the formation of high-aspect-ratio nanowires suitable
for device implementation. Nanowire doping is typically introduced
in situ during nanowire growth, and incorporation can occur both axially
through the catalyst particle and radially on the nanowire sidewalls.[11] The amount of axial doping within the nanowires
is highly affected by dopant species accumulating in the metal catalyst,
typically creating a reservoir effect. Namely, dopants species remain
within the gold particle independent of growth chamber conditions.
The formation of an abrupt doping profile is therefore challenging,
and the optimal conditions will depend on dopant solubility in the
particle, particle size, and growth rate. However, using VLS enables
relatively low temperature during epitaxial growth (<460°
for InAs), which serves to suppress diffusion of dopant species already
incorporated within the crystal.[12] Particularly,
Sn is often used to achieve high n-type carrier concentration in InGaAs,
up to 5 × 1019 cm–3. However, Sn
is an amphoteric dopant resulting in compensational doping at high
concentrations.[13] VLS growth of GeSn nanowires
has demonstrated Sn incorporation well in excess of equilibrium solubility
in bulk Ge. For InAs nanowires specifically, the Sn doping is typically
below the detection limit of energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis-based
methods, indicating incorporation under equilibrium solubility.[14]Efficient characterization with spatial
resolution of the doping
within a nanowire remains challenging due to its small geometry. For
Au-catalyzed VLS growth, the reservoir effect reportedly leads to
a doping grading length on the order of the nanowire diameter.[15] Traditional methods, used for planar films,
such as Hall measurements have been applied to large nanowires (diameter
>100 nm), but are not applicable to thin nanowires required for
transistor
applications.[16−18] In addition, capacitance-based measurements have
typically been applied to gated nanowires in large nanowire arrays
for the evaluation of the doping level, although geometrical limitations
such as large surface-to-volume ratio and parasitic capacitances,
as well as dynamic carrier interaction at oxide traps present within
the gate-stack restrict the measurement accuracy.[19] Approaches that allow sufficient spatial resolution are
limited to atom probe tomography and electron holography. Specifically,
electron holography offers sensitivity to active doping via the built-in
potential they generate, while also maintaining a spatial resolution
in the nanoscale range.[20−22] However, these methods require
separately prepared samples for characterization of thin nanowires
used within devices.In this paper, we present a novel characterization
method used
to probe the axial doping distribution in high-performance and scaled
(gate length = 50 nm) metal−oxide−semiconductor field-effect
transistors (MOSFETs) by varying the gate position along a vertical
InAs nanowire and evaluating the resulting threshold voltage (VT) shift. We apply this method to vertical III–V
nanowire-based MOSFETs with thin diameters (12 nm) and state-of-the
art performance. Particularly, we systematically study the correlation
between the threshold voltage and the varying doping distribution
in the axial direction of the incorporated nanowires. The VT-based characterization method is verified
by employing well-established electron holography measurements to
independently characterize the axial doping gradient along the nanowire
by electrostatic potential. Electron holography thus allows us to
evaluate the extent of the reservoir effect prevalent for VLS growth
by characterizing the doping distribution gradient; see Figure a. The growth results are further
characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging, which
derives the nanowire crystal structure. The fabricated n-type III–V
(InAs channel) transistors exhibit very high transconductance (up
to 2.6 mS/μm) and low access resistance (down to 300 Ω
μm) attributed to the introduction of a doped segment in the
bottom of the nanowire as well as implementing core–shell nanowires
(radial shell growth). Furthermore, the doping profile is correlated
with actual transistor performance metrics for method validation.[23] Previous studies of VT shifts in III–V MOSFETs have typically been attributed to
quantum size effects for homogeneously doped FinFETs.[24−26] Here, we characterize the axial doping gradient byVT shift for ultrathin vertical gate-all-around (GAA) nanowire
MOSFETs by a novel method enabled by advanced, high-precision, fabrication
techniques. Furthermore, this study concludes that the doping gradient
within the nanowire provides the main contribution to the VT shift.
Figure 1
(a) TEM image of the implemented InAs
nanowires, highlighting the
expected doping gradient induced by in situ Sn doping during metal-seeded
VLS growth. (b) Schematic representation of the doping profile as
estimated from growth conditions and geometry (Nanowire Growth section) (c) Schematic representation of the
finalized vertical nanowire MOSFET with varied gate position retaining
a constant Lg of 50 nm.
(a) TEM image of the implemented InAs
nanowires, highlighting the
expected doping gradient induced by in situ Sn doping during metal-seeded
VLS growth. (b) Schematic representation of the doping profile as
estimated from growth conditions and geometry (Nanowire Growth section) (c) Schematic representation of the
finalized vertical nanowire MOSFET with varied gate position retaining
a constant Lg of 50 nm.
Experimental Section
The implemented
InAs nanowires are grown from Au dots (32 nm diameter),
defined by electron beam lithography (EBL).[5,27] The
nanowire VLS growth is performed on a substrate consisting of a 260
nm epitaxially grown n-doped InAs layer on top of a p-type Si(111)
substrate. The highly conductive InAs layer facilitates low access
resistance and provides an easy path for device isolation by mesa
etching of the layer, which are benefits compared to other growth
approaches where the nanowires are directly integrated on the Si substrate.[28,29] Sn is used for doping the top and bottom part of the InAs to reduce
access resistance, while the intermediate section of the nanowire
is not intentionally doped; see Figure b. The expected doping profile can be predicted based
on geometry and growth conditions, where the gradient from the Sn-doped
bottom segment is estimated to be in the order of the gold particle
size, in our case about 30 nm (see the Methods section for detailed growth parameters).[15] The nanowires are also radially overgrown with a 5 nm n-doped InAs
shell (Figure b),
which contributes to improved contact resistance for the final devices.[30] Vertical GAA MOSFET devices are formed by following
a self-aligned gate last process. This allows selective recess etching
of the gate region, which enables nanowire diameters of only 12 nm
and further minimizes the drain resistance using a wrap-around drain
contact with a gate overlap (detailed description is found in the Device Fabrication section), as illustrated in Figure c. We observe that
the recess etching leaves a highly doped InAs shell as well as a metal
contact adjacent to the source and drain, respectively, which serves
to mitigate access resistance further. The fabrication method allows
for varied gate positions while retaining a constant gate length of
50 nm. A hexagonal double-row array structure consisting of 184 nanowires
is used for each MOSFET, where an internanowire pitch of 300 nm is
implemented to minimize proximity effects during VLS growth such as
material diffusion.[31] The double-row layout
with multiple nanowires provides sufficient absolute current and transconductance
for the fabricated devices, which enables high-frequency measurements.
The use of multiple nanowires in each device also provides beneficial
averaging with respect to process conditions within the array, which
serves to suppress unwanted variations of electrical properties for
similar devices.[32]
Results
Device
schematics and representative transfer characteristics for
MOSFETs with varying gate position along the vertical nanowire are
presented in Figure (see expanded dataset in the Supporting Information). The selective etching of the channel region enables the formation
of a thin nanowire channel diameter of 12 nm, which is necessary to
suppress short channel effects at short gate lengths (Lg = 50 nm); see Figure a.[25] A key process step
in our method is that we systematically vary the thickness of the
bottom hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) spacer (LHSQ) between the MOSFETs, which translates to a shifted gate
position along the nanowires. Therefore, based on the HSQ thickness LHSQ, different parts of the nanowires are covered
by the gate and, in effect, this realizes MOSFETs with different doping
profiles. Thus, when moving the gate position upwards along the nanowires,
the doping within the channel will gradually shift from high doping
level (n+) close to the bottom segment toward nonintentional
doping (nid), a change that profoundly influences the transistor metrics.
This behavior is evident from the transfer characteristics at VDS = 500 mV (Figure b), which exhibit improved drive current
when the gate is placed within the highly doped region, thus leaving
no ungated resistive regions at the source side.[33] In addition, the transfer characteristics at the lower
drain bias, at VDS = 50 mV (Figure c), demonstrate a systematic
shift from depletion (VT < 0 V) toward
enhancement mode (VT > 0 V) operation
between the devices, as well as improved modulation for elevated gate
position. Both effects can be attributed to the variation in the channel
carrier concentration. Notably, these devices are processed in parallel
on the same sample, removing potential variation due to, for instance,
processing and deposition conditions.
Figure 2
(a) Schematic representation of the nanowire
prior to gate deposition,
where the thickness of the HSQ spacer defines the position of the
gate. (b) Transfer characteristics (linear scale) at VDS = 500 mV representing the on-state for varied gate
position LHSQ. (c) Transfer characteristics
(log scale) at VDS = 50 mV representing
the off-state for varied gate position LHSQ.
(a) Schematic representation of the nanowire
prior to gate deposition,
where the thickness of the HSQ spacer defines the position of the
gate. (b) Transfer characteristics (linear scale) at VDS = 500 mV representing the on-state for varied gate
position LHSQ. (c) Transfer characteristics
(log scale) at VDS = 50 mV representing
the off-state for varied gate position LHSQ.By applying electron holography
and TEM imaging to a nanowire with
the same growth conditions (albeit 44 nm diameter Au dot) the axial
doping distribution and crystal structure of the InAs nanowires can
be evaluated; see Figure . Here, separate samples are prepared where the InAs radial
shell is etched after growth to analyze the properties of the core
InAs segment (Figure b); see the TEM Analysis section. Using
electron holography, a phase map is constructed and translated to
electrostatic potential (details in the TEM Analysis section) (Figure a).[34] The technique is here used to assess
the built-in potentials (VBI) and the
active doping in the radial and axial directions of the nanowires.
The axial potential is calculated as the mean value of 5 nm wide and
15 nm wide volumes, respectively, along the center of the nanowire
phase map, to further validate the elevated potential (0 to ∼25
nm) at the beginning of the InAs nanowire section. Electron holography
techniques are also highly diameter-dependent, which contribute to
the observed oscillations within the data, where many of the oscillations
can be attributed to zincblende stacking faults along the nanowire.
Fitting a modeled electrostatic potential, based on a 1D zero-current
model (1D Poisson-solver) to the measured potential demonstrates the
highest doping concentration ND from 6
× 1018 cm–3 [35] at the bottom of the nanowire down to about 6 × 1017 cm–3 in the intrinsic segment. Here, an
exponentially decaying gradient corresponding to the nanowire Au dot
diameter is assumed, which corresponds to a decay of the doping concentration
of 44 nm/decade.[15] High-resolution TEM
imaging is also performed on the same type of nanowire, visualizing
the wurtzite crystal structure with zincblende stacking faults. As
expected, the zincblende stacking faults are prevalent for the InAs
segment with a higher level of Sn doping incorporation.[9]
Figure 3
(a) Phase map and axial potential calculated from electron
holography
data for the InAs nanowire showing the expected initial n+-region (0 to ∼25 nm). Axial potential extracted from the
center core (mean value of 15 nm, and 5 nm wide volume) of the nanowire
phase map, where oscillations are caused by diameter variation. The
simulated potential is calculated using a 1D zero-current model to
determine the self-consistent electrostatic potential. The observed
potential variation is significantly larger than the measurement error
of ±0.092 V. (b) High-resolution TEM image of the heterostructure
nanowire showing (c) stacking faults at regions with higher Sn doping
incorporation and (d) WZ crystal structure of the InAs segment.
(a) Phase map and axial potential calculated from electron
holography
data for the InAs nanowire showing the expected initial n+-region (0 to ∼25 nm). Axial potential extracted from the
center core (mean value of 15 nm, and 5 nm wide volume) of the nanowire
phase map, where oscillations are caused by diameter variation. The
simulated potential is calculated using a 1D zero-current model to
determine the self-consistent electrostatic potential. The observed
potential variation is significantly larger than the measurement error
of ±0.092 V. (b) High-resolution TEM image of the heterostructure
nanowire showing (c) stacking faults at regions with higher Sn doping
incorporation and (d) WZ crystal structure of the InAs segment.Threshold voltage VT was calculated
from the measured transfer characteristics, and frequency-dependent
measurements were carried out to verify the negligible influence of
gate oxide defects Nbt for varying gate
position along the vertical nanowire MOSFET. The results are presented
in Figure , where
a schematic image is also provided that represents the axial doping
distribution of the nanowire determined via electron holography (Figure a). Figure b presents VT versus LHSQ, where VT is calculated by extrapolating from maximum
transconductance at VDS = 50 mV. Here,
five devices are measured for each gate position at LHSQ < 90 nm as well as two devices atLHSQ = 100 nm. The VT shifts
by a total of about 100 mV as the gate position is systematically
moved from the bottom to the upper part of the nanowire. The threshold
voltage can be described (dashed line) by an analytical model for
doped junctionless GAA nanowires MOSFETs as VT = Vfb – qNDK, where Vfb and ND represent the flatband voltage
and channel doping concentration, respectively. Furthermore, K = r2(4εr)−1 ln(1 + tox/r)r2(64εr)−1 summarizes different scaling parameters, where tox is the thickness of the gate oxide, r is the nanowire radius, and εs and εr represent the relative permittivities of the semiconductor
and gate oxide, respectively.[36] This theoretical
model is applied by considering the electron holography results, including
a difference of an order of magnitude (6 × 1018 to
6 × 1017 cm–3) and a 44 nm/decade
decay in doping concentration along the axial direction (Figure a). The model describes
well the transition in VT both in magnitude
and position as we move along the doping gradient. Variability in VT between devices at fixed gate position with
the same diameter (see Figure a) can be mostly attributed to processing variations leading
to deteriorated precision in placement of the gate. Particularly,
for thinner HSQ spacers, fluctuations in HSQ thickness constitute
a larger absolute error of ±10 nm, attributed to the spacer fabrication
method using underexposure of an electron beam resist. The HSQ thickness
is evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the protruding
nanowire during device fabrication; in addition, the thickness variation
is determined by measuring the HSQ contrast curve using a profilometer
(see the Device Fabrication section for
details).[32,37] Within the transitional region of the n+-/nid-segment, at LHSQ = 50 nm,
the spacer variation expectedly manifests as a larger variation due
to steep change in VT (Figure b). Notably, a doping concentration
of 1 × 1017 cm–3 corresponds to
only a few active Sn impurities within the channel region; thus, a
variation in the Sn doping concentration due to the Au particle size
and InAs nanowire diameter will have a large relative effect. Finally,
we evaluate the charge density within the dielectric layer of the
MOSFET gate-stack, corresponding to border traps Nbt, by measuring the frequency dependence of maximum transconductance gm,max in Figure c.[38] Measurements are performed
for radio frequency (RF)-optimized devices[39] with gate-position LHSQ at 50, 70, and
100 nm. Devices with thinner bottom spacer (LHSQ = 10) nm are dominated by large gate-source overlap capacitance Cgs > 150 fF and are therefore unsuitable
for
RF analysis. The proposed gate-last fabrication method introduces
direct gate-drain metal overlap, leading to a capacitance contribution
of about Cgd ∼ 60 fF (calculated
via small-signal modeling), sufficiently low to enable high-frequency
measurements. Optimal bias conditions are obtained from DC measurements
as VDS = 0.5 V and VGS corresponding to gm,max (VGS – VT ≈
0.25 V). For the MOSFETs with the lowest access resistance, i.e.,
the devices with the shortest HSQ thickness, we observe a very high
transconductance reaching values close to 2 mS/μm, which is
a competitive value considering the thin nanowire geometry. In agreement
with planar III–V MOSFETs, the devices demonstrate the expected
behavior of gradually increasing gm,max with higher frequencies, up until parasitic capacitances (in conjunction
with extrinsic resistance) dominate (>3 GHz). From these measurements, Nbt is calculated from the slope in the frequency
range of 108–109 Hz, which yields similar
border trap densities for all devices (∼1019 cm–3) independent of gate positions (see the Supporting Information for details). The results
indicate that the oxide defects are not the main influence of the VT shifts.
Figure 4
(a) Doping gradient achieved by electron
holography varying from
6 × 1018 down to 6 × 1017 cm–3 with an exponential decay of 44 nm/decade. (b) Measured threshold
voltage VT dependence of gate position LHSQ and a theoretical model considering the
calculated doping gradient from electron holography. VT is extracted at the linear mode of operation (VDS = 50 mV) to suppress short channel effects.
Five devices are measured for each gate position at LHSQ < 90 nm and two devices for LHSQ = 100 nm. The theoretical simulation considers fully doped
cylindrical junctionless transistors.[36] (c) Frequency behavior of maximum transconductance gm,max and oxide trap density derived from gm,max vs frequency dispersion for varying gate position. Nbt is estimated by considering boarder traps
responding within a region of 108–109 Hz corresponding to an oxide depth of about 0.1–0.3 nm when
assuming elastic tunneling.[38]
(a) Doping gradient achieved by electron
holography varying from
6 × 1018 down to 6 × 1017 cm–3 with an exponential decay of 44 nm/decade. (b) Measured threshold
voltage VT dependence of gate position LHSQ and a theoretical model considering the
calculated doping gradient from electron holography. VT is extracted at the linear mode of operation (VDS = 50 mV) to suppress short channel effects.
Five devices are measured for each gate position at LHSQ < 90 nm and two devices for LHSQ = 100 nm. The theoretical simulation considers fully doped
cylindrical junctionless transistors.[36] (c) Frequency behavior of maximum transconductance gm,max and oxide trap density derived from gm,max vs frequency dispersion for varying gate position. Nbt is estimated by considering boarder traps
responding within a region of 108–109 Hz corresponding to an oxide depth of about 0.1–0.3 nm when
assuming elastic tunneling.[38]Finally, we evaluate the influence of the obtained doping
profile
(Figure a,b) of the
InAs nanowire segment on relevant MOSFET performance metrics, such
as minimum subthreshold swing SSmin, on-resistance Ron, and gm,max,
with respect to gate position LHSQ in Figure . Figure a provides off-state characteristics,
quantified by SSmin (point slope) with respect to LHSQ, where increased channel doping leads to
deteriorated off-state performance (figure inset). Improved SSmin for lower background doping is well in line with previously
reported results for GAA InAs MOSFET devices.[40] When moving the gate position up along the nanowire, the length
of the epitaxial contact at the nanowire source (bottom) extends,
resulting in an increased on-resistance Ron; see Figure b.[35]Ron represents the
combined resistance contribution of the transistor, namely, the sum
of source and drain resistance (access resistance) as well as channel
resistance. The maximum transconductance gm,max of the devices shows state-of-the-art performance, with the best
values exceeding 2.5 mS/μm, although they reduce with respect
to raised gate position (Figure c). The DC performance of these 12 nm channel diameter
devices, with Lg = 50 nm, compare well
with previously reported vertical GAA MOSFETs, that demonstrated gm,max > 3 mS/μm and Ron = 190 Ω·μm for devices scaled to Lg = 25 nm (17 nm channel diameter), albeit these
devices provided less favorable off-state characteristics with reported
SSmin = 440 mV/dec.[41] The gm,max vs Ron trends
(Figure b) confirm
the presence of an added ungated resistive regions at the source side
for increased spacer thickness LHSQ.[33] The added access resistance, at the source,
also serves to reduce the effective voltage drop between the gate
and source. This effect is predominantly observed at LHSQ = 100 nm, as evidenced by increased transconductance
values when switching the biasing of source and drain electrodes from
bottom ground to top ground (Figure c). The presence of the axial doping distribution of
the InAs nanowire core segment is therefore further validated by the
trends measured for SSmin, Ron, and gm,max vs gate position LHSQ.
Figure 5
(a) SSmin behavior vs gate position LHSQ, with the inset correlating the gate position
to expected
channel doping ND according to electron
holography (Figure a). (b) On-resistance Ron vs LHSQ, demonstrating added series resistance with
raised gate positions. (c) Maximum transconductance gm,max dependence of gate position indicating degraded
performance for larger LHSQ.
(a) SSmin behavior vs gate position LHSQ, with the inset correlating the gate position
to expected
channel doping ND according to electron
holography (Figure a). (b) On-resistance Ron vs LHSQ, demonstrating added series resistance with
raised gate positions. (c) Maximum transconductance gm,max dependence of gate position indicating degraded
performance for larger LHSQ.
Conclusions
In conclusion, we have characterized the doping
incorporation of
Sn in ultrathin (12 nm channel diameter) vertical VLS-grown nanowires
utilizing a novel method of axial threshold voltage probing validated
by the well-established technique of high-resolution electron holography.
The VT probing method is performed by
systematically moving the gate position along a vertical nanowire
MOSFET and utilizing the measured shift in the threshold voltage to
model and evaluate the encapsulated charge due to doping. By also
measuring the transconductance–frequency dispersion, we further
ruled out gate oxide defects as the main contribution for threshold
voltage shift. The MOSFETs used in this study exhibited excellent
performance, with highest maximum transconductance of 2.6 mS/μm.
The obtained results are further substantiated by other transistor
metrics, such as SSmin, Ron, and gm,max, which all scale according
to gate position. This study also provided insights regarding the VT variation typically found in III–V
MOSFETs based on metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD)-grown
materials, which has proven to be detrimental for further circuit
implementation such as for CMOS applications. To address these issues
related to in situ doping, the axial gradients could be mitigated
by selective area epitaxy[42] and further
circumvented by employing regrown contacts.[43] On a closing note, our proposed, VT-based,
sweeping gate method allows characterization with sufficient resolution
to discern various doping gradients present within thin nanowire channels
employed in MOSFETs. The presented method, which requires no separately
prepared samples, is therefore a welcome addition in the ever-growing
library of application-specific devices employing advanced channel
engineering.
Methods
Nanowire Growth
Arrays of Au disks with a thickness
of 10 nm and diameters from 20 to 44 nm were patterned by EBL on substrates
consisting of 250 nm highly doped InAs layers grown on high resistivity
Si(111) substrates. The nanowires were grown using metal–organic
vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE) in an Aixtron CCS 18313 reactor at a pressure
of 100 mbar and a total flow of 8000 sccm. After annealing in arsine
(AsH3) at 550 °C, an InAs segment was grown at 460
°C using trimethylindium (TMIn) and arsine with a molar fraction
of XTMIn = 6.1 × 10–6 and XAsH = 1.3 × 10–4, respectively. The bottom and top parts of the InAs
segment were n-doped by tetraethyltin (TESn) (XTESn = 1.2 × 10–5). The growth was paused
in an arsine flow for 3 min to reduce the In concentration in the
Au particle. A 5 s pulse of TMIn and another 5 s pulse of trimethylantimony
(TMSb) were supplied before a GaSb segment was grown using (TMGa)
(XTMGa = 4.9 × 10–5) and trimethylantimony (TMSb) (XTMSb = 6.2 × 10–5) while heating to 515 °C.
The top half of the GaSb segment was p-doped using diethylzinc (DEZn)
(XDEZn = 1.9 × 10–5). The temperature was then lowered to 460 °C at which a Sn-doped
InAs shell was grown using the same molar fraction as for the InAs
bottom segment.
Electrical Measurements
DC measurements
are realized
with Cascade 1100B probe station connected to a Keithley 4200A-SCS
parameter, where low-frequency RF probes are used to minimize access
resistance originating from the probe-pad contact. RF measurements
were carried out with an Agilent E8361A vector network analyzer. The
measurement was calibrated off-chip with an LRRM method, and the effect
of contact pads was deembedded by measuring dedicated on-chip open
and short structures. S-parameters were measured
from 10 MHz to 67 GHz and transformed to y-parameters.
A small-signal model was fitted to the y-parameters,
and the frequency dependence of the transconductance gm,max, as well as the defect density Nbt, was calculated from Re(y21).
TEM Analysis
Postgrowth nanowires are prepared by ozone
oxidation followed by a 30 s HCl/H2O 1:10 dip (one digital
etch cycle) to remove homogeneously doped radial shell growth. NWs
were broken off from the growth substrate and transferred onto a TEM
Cu grid with a carbon membrane. Electron holograms were recorded using
an FEI Titan 80-300ST field emission gun transmission electron microscope,
operating at 120 kV and equipped with a rotatable Möllenstedt
biprism. This TEM technique of electron holography acquires a spatially
resolved phase difference, ϕ, by interference between electrons
that pass through the specimen (object wave) and vacuum (reference
wave). The ϕ value is related to the crystal potential V(x, y, z) according to , where CE is
a constant that depends on the microscope acceleration voltage (8.64
× 10–6 rad/(m V) at 120 kV) and t is the specimen thickness. Holograms with 10 s exposure time were
acquired using a 2 × 2-k charge-coupled device
(CCD) camera (Gatan Ultrascan US1000 CCD) at a biprism voltage of
122 V. They were then processed through a removal of dead and hot
pixels by an iterative local threshold algorithm, as well as a masking
out of Fresnel fringes. In addition, to increase the signal-to-noise
ratio of the holograms, a modest Wiener filtering in Fourier space
was employed. Upon the holographic Fourier reconstruction method,
one side band was masked with a circular 10th-order Butterworth filter.
Finally, the phase of the reconstructed wave was subtracted by the
phase reconstructed from an additionally recorded and equally processed
object-free empty hologram. The mean counts per hologram pixel were
≈60 000, the phase resolution was ≈0.2 rad, and
the error in the potential was ≈0.09 V.
Device Fabrication
The sample was first spin-coated
with hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) thin film and patterned via e-beam
lithography (EBL), where the local spacer thickness is controlled
by the dose of electrons. After development of the HSQ film by a 25%
tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution, the sample was dipped
in citric acid followed by 20 nm sputtered W and 3 nm atomic layer
deposited (ALD) TiN. A C4F8:Ar anisotropic dry etch was performed,
which leaves only the metal on the nanowire sidewalls, forming the
top contact.The exposed HSQ was then thinned by diluted HF
1:1000 to form the first spacer, exposing the channel region, forming
a recess gate. This allows for selective etching of the gate by digital
etching, namely, repeated oxidization with O3 and etching
by citric acid until the highly doped InAs shell is removed. In situ
hydrogen-plasma cleaning is performed prior to high-k deposition, at 250 degrees, consisting of 40 cycles of HfO2. The gate was then finalized by sputtering 60 nm of W, which is
vertically aligned by a back-etched polymer spacer, by O2-plasma, followed by an SF6 dry etch for W removal. Postmetal annealing
at 250 °C is performed after gate deposition. The MOSFET is then
finished by aligning an S1813 top spacer, forming via holes, and sputtering
of Ni/W/Au, 15/30/180 nm, as the final top metal.
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