Understanding Coulomb effects in nanoscale Schottky-barrier-FETs

Abstract

We employ a novel multiconfigurational self-consistent Green's function approach (MCSCG) for the simulation of nanoscale Schottky-barrier-field-effect transistors (SB-FETs). This approach allows the calculation of electronic transport with a seamless transition from the single-electron regime to room-temperature FET operation. The particular improvement of the MCSCG stems from a self-consistent division of the channel system into a small subsystem of resonantly trapped states for which a many-body Fock space approach becomes numerically feasible and the rest of the system which can be treated adequately on a conventional mean-field level. The Fock space description allows for the calculation of few-electron Coulomb charging effects beyond the mean-field. We compare a conventional Hartree nonequilibrium Green's function calculation with the results of the MCSCG approach. Using the MCSCG method, Coulomb blockade effects are demonstrated at low temperatures while, under strong nonequilibrium and high-temperature conditions, the Hartree approximation is retained. Finally, the visibility of quantum and single-electron effects in scaled transistor structures is discussed. © 2007 IEEE.