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.