Effects of nanoscale contacts to silicon nanowires on contact resistance: Characterization and Modeling

This paper discusses effects of nanoscale contacts to silicon nanowires on contact resistance. The widely used transmission line model (TLM), which treats the semiconductor as an infinitely thin layer, can only predict the contact resistance by assuming a dynamically varying contact resistivity. The ρ_c values must be experimentally obtained for each contact length, rendering the predictive capabilities of the TLM inadequate beyond a very small window. This paper proposes a new depth-depletion (DD) model that includes the critical role of the depletion layer under the contacts and finite depth of the semiconductor, providing a robust solution that maintains constant ρ_c and ρ_s values.