High-Performance and Low-Power Applications of n- and p-Type Symmetrically Ultrascaled Pentagonal CX2 Transistors

The disparity in transport properties between n-type and p-type transistors has hindered the advancement of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits. We designed Penta-CX2 (X = N, P, As, Sb) field-effect transistors (FETs) and utilized first-principles methods to evaluate their quantum transport characteristics. Our results demonstrate that CP2 and CAs2 exhibit superior transport properties and low subthreshold swing (SS) in both n-type and p-type configurations at sub-5 nm channel lengths. For high-performance (HP) applications, the on-state current (Ion) for both n-type and p-type devices exceeds 3000 μA/μm, peaking at 4574 μA/μm. In low-power (LP) applications, Ion for both types of devices surpasses 1000 μA/μm, reaching a maximum of 1735 μA/μm, significantly exceeding the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS) standards for HP and LP applications. Furthermore, even when the channel length is reduced to 4 or 3 nm, the devices maintain exceptional performance. Additionally, we established a correlation between carrier effective mass and the saturation current, elucidating how the anisotropy of carrier effective mass influences transport properties and explaining the physical mechanisms by which the device overcomes Boltzmann’s tyranny. This study provides valuable insights and references for designing advanced CMOSFETs in the post-Si era using channel materials with unique effective mass.