MESFETs Made From Individual GaN Nanowires

In this paper, we demonstrate novel MESFETs based on individual GaN nanowires. The Pt/Au Schottky gates exhibited excellent two-terminal Schottky diode rectification behavior. The average effective Schottky barrier height was 0.87 eV, with an average ideality factor of 1.6. In addition, the Schottky gates efficiently modulated the conduction of the nanowires. The threshold gate voltages required for complete pinch off were as small as -2.6 V, and transconductances exceeded 1.4 muS. Subthreshold swings approaching 60 mV/decade and on/off current ratios of up to 5times10⁸ were achieved. These results show that the Schottky gate has the potential to significantly improve the performance of GaN nanowire field-effect devices.