Performance studies in nanowire field-effect transistors with different cross sections

In this work, SNWTs with three different cross sections (triangular, circular and square) are simulated by TCAD and their performance are studied. The SNWT with triangular cross section exhibits higher on/off ratio and better subthreshold characteristics compared with other transistors. In addition, an equivalent model is proposed to accurately estimate the performance of different shaped SNWTs with the same channel cross-section area to simplify the device model for future circuit simulation. All the simulation results show that the triangular prismatic SNWT is more promising for controlling SCE and be able to relax the line width limit for future low power applications.