Gate-all-around silicon nanowire 25-stage CMOS ring oscillators with diameter down to 3 nm

We demonstrate the world's first top-down CMOS ring oscillators (ROs) fabricated with gate-all-around (GAA) silicon nanowire (NW) FETs having diameters as small as 3 nm. NW capacitance shows size dependence in good agreement with that of a cylindrical capacitor. AC characterization shows enhanced self-heating below 5 nm. © 2010 IEEE.