Emerging silicon and nonsilicon nanoelectronic devices: opportunities and challenges for future high-performance and low-power computational applications

Several key emerging nanoelectronic devices, such as Si nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs), carbon nanotube FETs, and III-V compound semiconductor quantum-well FETs, are assessed for their potential in future high-performance, low-power computation applications. Furthermore, these devices are benchmarked against state-of-the-art Si CMOS technologies. The two fundamental transistor benchmarking metrics utilized in this study are: (i) CVII versus L_G; and ii) CVII versus I_ON/I_OFF. While intrinsic device speed is emphasized in the first metric, the tradeoff between device speed and off-state leakage is assessed in the latter. For high-performance and low-power logic applications, low CVII and high I_ON/I_OFF values are both required. Based on the results obtained, the opportunities and challenges for these emerging novel devices in future logic applications are highlighted and discussed.