Analytical Modeling of Current in Graphene

Nanoribbon Field Effect Transistors

Alireza Kargar, Student Member, IEEE
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Shiraz University
Shiraz 7134851156, Iran
E-mail: arkargar@ieee.org

Abstract—In this paper, double gate graphene nanoribbon (GNR)

field effect transistor (FET) is presented. To get a better
understanding of such transistors, an analytical modeling for
channel current is achieved. To obtain such analytical modeling,
an exponential equation for potential distribution within the
GNR is presented through the use of a good approximation. Then
an analytical formula for transmission probability is achieved
which is a function of physical and electrical parameters. By
applying Landauer formula along with ballistic transport, the
drain current as a function of device parameters is revealed. The Fig. 1. Schematic representation of double gate graphene nanoribbon (GNR)
presented analytical investigation can be applied to design and FET. A semiconductiong armchair edge GNR (AGNR) forms the channel
optimize the GNR FETs for nanoelectronic applications. between two contacts.

Keywords-graphene nanoribbon; field efect transistor;

analytical modeling.
I. INTRODUCTION
Graphene has recently attracted considerable attention as
promising candidate material for nanoelectronic interconnects
and transistors, which is mostly based on its outstanding
electronic properties [1, 2]. Graphene is a single layer of
carbon atoms packed into a 2-D honeycomb lattice. Graphene
nanoribbon (GNR) which is a narrow band of graphene can be
either metallic or semiconducting based on its structure [3].
Despite of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that are combinations of
metallic and semiconducting materials, it has recently
demonstrated that all sub-10nm GNRs are semiconducting [4].
Due to very high mobility in the GNRs, the GNR channel
provides almost ballistic transport in the GNR FETs.
Recently, some theoretical and analytical works have been
performed to analyze the GNR FETs and to make us better
understanding of their physics [5-8]. However we need more
analytical investigations to be done in order to design and
optimize the GNR FETs in their nanoelectronic applications.
In this paper, it is provided an analytical modeling for the
channel current of a double gate GNR FET. Through a good
approximation, an equation in the exponential form for
potential distribution within the GNR channel is revealed.
Then an analytical formula for transmission probability is
derived, which is a function of physical parameters and
electrical parameters such as bias voltages, insulator thickness,
GNR width, and Schottky barrier height. By considering
ballistic transport within the semiconducting GNR and using
Landauer formula, the drain current as a function of device
parameters is presented.
II. METHODOLOGY
The schematic view of double gate GNR FET is depicted in
Fig. 1. In this structure, a semiconducting armchair edge GNR
(AGNR) forms the channel between two contacts. To calculate
the transfer/output characteristics of this GNR FET, first we
need to achieve the potential distribution within the GNR
channel. Recently an analytical description of potential
distribution for such GNR FET has been demonstrated [8],
which is based on solving the Laplace equation. According to
[8], the potential distribution near the source contact can be
written as
ʹܸீௌ ି௭గ
ܷሺ‫ݖ‬ሻ ൌ ܵ‫ ܪܤ‬െ ƒ”……‘• ൬݁ ଶ௧೔೙ೞ ൰ሺͳሻ
ߨ
where SBH is the Schottky barrier height, VGS is the gate bias
voltage, and tins is the insulator thickness. By expanding arccos
function, U(z) can approximately be written as
ି௭௫
ܷሺ‫ݖ‬ሻ ൎ ܵ‫ ܪܤ‬െ ܸீௌ ሺͳ െ ݁ ௧೔೙ೞ ሻሺʹሻ
where x is a fitting parameter. This parameter is achieved as x
 1.88 for a good approximation as illustrated in Fig. 2. In this
figure, SBH is half of bandgap of an N = 13 AGNR, VGS = 0.3
V, and tins = 2 nm. The transmission probability can be
achieved using WKB approximation as
ܶ௡ ሺ‫ܧ‬ሻ ൌ  ݁ ிሺாሻ ሺ3)
where
௭೑
‫ܨ‬ሺ‫ܧ‬ሻ ൌ  െʹ න ݇ሺ‫ݖ‬ሻ݀‫ ݖ‬ሺͶሻ
௭೔

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 2
0.5 10
U(z) from (1)
0
U(z) from (2) 10
0.4
-2
10
U(z)

0.3
-4
10

I tu (PA)
0.2 -6
10

0.1 -8
10
0 2 4 6 8 10
distance from source (nm) -10
N = 10 AGNR
10 N = 12 AGNR
N = 13 AGNR
Fig. 2. The potential distribution near the source contact from (1) and (2). The -12
considered SBH is half of bandgap of an N = 13 AGNR and VGS is equal to 0.3 10
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
V. tins = 2 nm and x = 1.88.
VGS (V)
Fig. 3. The tunneling current of double gate GNR FET as a function of gate
where zi and zf are the classical turning points, and k(z) can be volate at the source contact for different AGNRs with various widths.
obtained from the linear dispersion relation of GNR as
‫ܧ‬ሺ‫ݖ‬ሻ  ൎ ‫ݏ‬԰߭ி ݇ሺ‫ݖ‬ሻሺͷሻ potential distribution near the drain contact from [8], the
where F ~ 108 cm/s is the Fermi velocity, s = +1 denotes the potential distribution near the drain contact can be written as
conduction band, and s = -1 denotes the valence band. By ሺ௭ି௅ሻ௫
ܷሺ‫ݖ‬ሻ ൎ ሺܵ‫ ܪܤ‬െ ܸ஽ௌ ሻ െ ሺܸீௌ െ ܸ஽ௌ ሻሺͳ െ ݁ ௧೔೙ೞ ሻሺͳͳሻ
inserting (2) in (5) and calculating (4) between two classical
turning points, the transmission probability (3) is analytically Where VDS is the drain bias voltage and L is the channel length.
derived as By inserting (11) in (5) and calculating (4) between two proper
ܶ௡ ሺ‫ܧ‬ሻ = turning points, the transmission probability at the drain contact
can be achieved analytically. The analytical formula for
௧
ቀ ೔೙ೞ
ଶ ቁቀଵǤ଺ଶ௡ா೒
ାଷǤଶଷሺௌ஻ுିȁாȁି௏ಸೄ ሻቁ transmission probability at the drain contact is similar to that of
‫ܧ‬ െ ܵ‫ܪܤ‬ ൅ ܸ ீௌ
݁ ଵǤ଺ଶ௧೔೙ೞ ሺாିௌ஻ுሻ ൬ ൰  source contact with a small modification. Therefore by using
ܸீௌ such analytical description, we are able to achieve the typical
ሺ͸ሻ ambipolar characteristic of GNR FETs. The GNR width W is
proportional with ribbon index N and in general it has an
where n is the subband number and Eg is the GNR bandgap. By inverse relation with GNR bandgap Eg as [9]
assuming ballistic transport within the GNR channel and using
ܽ
Landauer formula, the tunneling current Itu can be achieved by ‫ ݃ܧ‬ൌ  ሺͳʹሻ
ௌ஻ு
ܹ
ʹ݁ where a is a fitting parameter based on the GNR classification
‫ܫ‬௧௨ ൌ  ෍ න ܶ௡ ሺ‫ܧ‬ሻሺ݂ሺ‫ܧ‬ሻ െ ݂ሺ‫ ܧ‬൅ ܸ݁஽ௌ ሻ݀‫ ܧ‬ሺ͹ሻ
݄ ௡ presented in [9]. Therefore the channel current analytically
ௌ஻ுି௏ಸೄ represents as a function of SBH, W, N, VGS, VDS and tins. In the
The thermionic current Ite can also be obtained by proposed analytical description, we don't consider the band-to-
band tunneling (BTBT).
ାஶ
ʹ݁
‫ܫ‬௧௘ ൌ  ෍ න ܶ௡‫ כ‬ሺ‫ܧ‬ሻሺ݂ሺ‫ܧ‬ሻ െ ݂ሺ‫ ܧ‬൅ ܸ݁஽ௌ ሻ݀‫ ܧ‬ሺͺሻ
݄ ௡
ௌ஻ு III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
where T*n(E)
is the transmission probability of thermionic To demonstrate the validity and accuracy of presented
current, which can be calculated from (6) in [8]. Therefore the analytical current description, we have calculated the tunneling
total channel current Itotal at the source contact can be obtained current near the source contact. Fig. 3 shows the tunneling
by current as a function of gate voltage for different AGNRs with
various widths. The drain voltage is set to be 0.4 V and SBH =
‫ܫ‬௧௢௧௔௟ ൌ  ‫ܫ‬௧௨ ൅ ‫ܫ‬௧௘ ሺͳͲሻ
Eg/2. The insulator thickness is taken to be tins = 2 nm. The
As we can see the derived analytical formula for transmis- current shows a unipolar characteristic since we have only
sion probability is a function of electrical and physical considered electron tunneling at the source contact. When we
parameters including insulator thickness tins, Schottky barrier consider both electron and hole currents, a typical ambipolar
height SBH, gate voltage VGS, GNR bandgap Eg, subband characteristic can be achieved. In fact the hole current provides
number n, and energy E. By applying the derived formula for a branch for the current characteristic and then combines with

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 0.25
0.2
0.15
I tu (PA)
0.1
VGS = 0.3 V
0.05
VGS = 0.4 V
0 observation of the quantum Hall effect and Berry's phase in graphene,"
0 0.1 0.2 0.3
VDS (V)
Fig. 4. The tunneling current of the double gate GNR FET as a function of
drain voltage at the source contact for different gate voltages.
electron current to present ambipolar characteristic. Although
in general the GNR bandgap has an inverse relationship with
the GNR width, one can see that N = 12 AGNR has higher
current than N = 13 AGNR. This is based on the fact that the
bandgap of N = 12 AGNR is equal to 0.6 eV [10], while the
bandgap of N = 13 AGNR is equal to 0.86 eV [10]. Therefore,
N = 13 AGNR has a higher Schottky barrier height against
electrons than N = 12 AGNR. The curves plotted in Fig. 4
show the tunneling current as a function of drain voltage for
different gate voltages. The considered GNR is an N = 13
AGNR and the SBH is half of bandgap. The insulator thickness
is set to be tins = 2 nm for this figure. One can see the typical
saturation behavior in Fig. 4, which is consistent with the GNR
FETs behavior.
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IV. CONCLUSION
In this study, the double gate GNR FET is presented and its
characteristics in a theoretical framework are investigated. An
analytical current description is achieved for such GNR FET,
which is a function of physical and electrical parameters such
as GNR bandgap, GNR width, insulator thickness, Schottky
barrier height and bias voltages. This analytical investigation
can be used to design and optimize the GNR FETs in nano-
electronic applications such as circuit applications.
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