Silicon nanowires electronic properties

Nanometer-Sized Electronic Devices The possible use of carbon nanotubes in nanoelectronics has aroused considerable interest. Dramatic recent advances have fueled speculation that nanotubes (SWNTs) will be useful for downsizing circuit dimensions. Because of their unique electronic properties, SWNTs can be interfaced with other materials to form novel heterostructures [156]. The simplest device one can imagine with carbon nanotubes is that involving a bend or a kink, arising from the presence of a diametrically opposite pentagon-heptagon pair. The resultant junction connects two nanotubes of different chirality and hence of different electronic structure, leading to the realization of an intramolecular device. Such a device in SWNTs is found to behave like a diode rectifier [157]. Silicon nanowire-carbon nanotube heterojunctions do indeed exhibit a rectification behavior [158]. 

FETs are actually the basic building blocks of integrated circuits. To develop circuits using nanotubes, we first have to design nanotube-based transistors. Silicon nanowires represent one of the best characterized examples of semiconductor nanotubes with the structure, size, and electronic properties controlled reproducibly (Hu et al., 1999 Cui et al., 2001a). In particular, silicon nanowires can be prepared as single-crystal structures with controllable diameters as small as 2 to 3 nm (Cui et al., 2003 Wu, 2004). Both n- and p-type FET devices can be produced with well-defined and reproducible high-performance properties... 

Zheng, Y., Rivas, C., Lake, R., Boykin, T.B. and Wimeck, G. (2005) Electronic properties of silicon nanowires. 

Leu PW, Svizheuko A, Cho K (2008) Ab-initio calculations of the mechanical and electronic properties of strained Si nanowires. Phys Rev B 77 235305 Miu M, Danila M, Kleps I, Bragaru A, Simion M (2011) Nanostructure and internal strain distribution in porous silicon. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 11 9136-9142 Niquet Y-M, Delerue C, Krzeminski C (2012) Effects of strain on the carrier mobility in silicon nanowires. Nano Lett 12 3545-3550... 

Petretto G, Debemardi A, Fanciulli M (2012) Electronic properties of pristine and Se doped [001] silicon nanowires an ab initio study. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 12 8704-8709 Puzder A, Williamson AJ, Grossman JC, Galli G (2002a) Surface chemistry of silicon nanoclusters. Phys Rev Lett 88(9) 097401... 

Zhao X, Wei CM, Yang L, Chou MY (2004) (Quantum confinement and electronic properties of silicon nanowires. Phys Rev Lett 92 236805... 

Zheng Y, Rivas C, Lake R, Alam K, Boykin TB (2005) Electronic properties of silicon nanowires. IEEE Trans Electron Devices 52 1097-1103... 

Rural R (2010) Colloquium structural, electronic, and transport properties of silicon nanowires. Rev Mod Phys 82 427... 

Haick H, Hurley PT, Hochbaum AI, Yang P, Lewis NS (2006) Electrical characteristics and chemical stability of non-oxidized, methyl-terminated silicon nanowires. J Am Chem Soc 128 8990-8991 Haight R, Sekaric L, Afzali A, Newns D (2009) Controlling the electronic properties of silicon nanowires with functional molecular groups. Nano Lett 9 3165-3170... 

Migas, D. B., 8c Borisenko, V. E. (2008). Effects of oxygen, fluorine, and hydroxyl passivation on electronic properties of (OOl)-oriented silicon nanowires. Journal of Applied Physics, 104, 024314. 

This chapter summarizes the main theoretical approaches to model the porous silicon electronic band structure, comparing effective mass theory, semiempirical, and first-principles methods. In order to model its complex porous morphology, supercell, nanowire, and nanocrystal approaches are widely used. In particular, calculations of strain, doping, and surface chemistry effects on the band structure are discussed. Finally, the combined use of ab initio and tight-binding approaches to predict the band structure and properties of electronic devices based on porous silicon is put forward. 

Shi J, Xu F, Zhou P, Yang J, Yang Z, Chen D-S, Yin Y, Chen D, Ma Z-Q (2013b) Refined nano-textured surface coupled with SiNx layer on the improved photovoltaic properties of multicrystalline silicon solar cells. Solid-State Electron 85 23-27 Shiu S-C, Hung S-C, Syu H-J, Lin C-F (2011) Fabrication of silicon nanostructured thin film and its transfer from bulk wafers onto alien substrates. J Electrochem Soc 158 D95-D98 Smith ZR, Smith RL, Collins SD (2013) Mechanism of nanowire formation in metal assisted chemical etching. Electrochim Acta 92 139-147... 

One of the most important physical parameters of any material is its thermal conductivity (see handbook chapter Thermal Properties of Porous Silicon ). Bulk crystalline Si, the material that is widely used in today s electronics and sensors, shows moderate thermal conductivity at room temperature (Slack 1964). On the other hand, highly porous Si, which is a complex nanostructured Si material, composed of interconnected nanowires and nanocrystals, shows a much lower thermal conductivity than that of bulk crystalline Si, which depends strongly on its structure and morphology. The voids within the porous Si layer and the low dimensionality of the highly porous Si skeleton serve to inhibit thermal transport within the layer. 

Rurali, R. (2005). Electronic and structural properties of silicon carbide nanowires. Physical Review B, 71, 205405. 

Nanotechnology and molecular electronics are progressing rapidly. As semiconductor devices approach their physical limits, researchers are trying to find ways to decrease the size of microelectronic circuits. Thus, cylindrical micelles composed of a ferrocenylsilane-siloxane block copolymer assemble on a silicon surface to form linear features. The micelle lines can then be transformed into a pattern of ceramic nanolines and create conjugated polymer nanowires by controlled chain polymerization. The micelle nanostructures can be converted into magnetic ceramic nanopatterns. It is possible that these lines will display magnetic, conductive and semiconductive properties. 

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