8 nm Si nanowire
Single electron tunnelling
66 mV/dec subthreshold slope
We have developed a top-down fabrication process for junctionless silicon nanowires with diameters down to 8 nm. These devices demonstrate excellent subthreshold characteristics with a slope of 66 mV/dec at 300 K. At low temperatures the nanowires demonstrate a range of quantum and low dimensional properties including quasi-1D electron transport, Luttinger liquid behaviour and single electron tunnelling / Coulomb blockade. We have also used the nanowires as sensors to determine the charge state of POM molecules with the first demonstration of a molecular flash memory with the memory node of less than 2 nm and retention times over 3 months.