3D NEGF quantum transport simulator for modeling ballistic transport in nano FinFETs

Quantum effects play a dominant role in many of the state-of-the-art small size structures for which the applicability of the standard well-developed engineering tools based on a semi-classical transport description is very limited or even impossible. There are a number of methods developed by solid state theorists over the last several decades to address the issue of quantum transport. Among the most commonly used in nanostructure calculations schemes are the Wigner-function approach, the Pauli master equation, and the non-equilibrium Green's functions (NEGF). The growing popularity of the latest (sometimes referred to as the Keldysh or the Kadanoff-Baym) formalism is conditioned by its sound conceptual basis for the development of the new class of quantum transport simulators. We demonstrate in this work that the key to the successful application of the NEGF formalism to the 3D quantum transport problem in semiconductor nanostructures is the numerical efficiency of the contact block reduction (CBR) method. We also present some very important results from the 3D FinFET analysis, such as the importance of the third gate