1. Introduction

Despite the fact that the field-effect transistor (FET) was patented long before the formal invention of the transistor by Lilenfeld (in 1926) and Heil (in 1934), it was produced only two decades later when its patent expired. Nevertheless, its benefits were soon realized, and it became the building block of every integrated chip.

In 1975, Gordon Moore made a bold statement, which he updated a decade later, that the number of transistors on an integrated chip doubles every couple of years [1, 2]. This Moore's law is surprisingly still valid. In fact, it seems that this is the only parameter, which keeps growing exponentially for five consecutive decades. A simple extrapolation of this trend reveals that within a decade, the size of the average transistor should be no larger than the dimensions of a single atom.

The idea to manufacture few atom-based electronic devices was first suggested by Richard Feynman, but it has become a reality only after the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) was invented, and manipulations of single atoms became feasible [3].

Recently there have been several attempts to fabricate nano-devices, which are based on several atoms and even on a single atom [4–9]. These devices can operate as single-atom transistors [10–13]. The main problem with these devices is that while the device's core is based on a single atom, the connectors are considerably larger, and consequently, it is extremely complicated to model the device since the models are spread over several length scales.

In order to simplify the model, the atom and the leads should both be presented in the simplest form possible.

That was the main motivation to create a model, in which the entire transistor is within the leads [14]. This configuration is in high agreement with the experiment of a single-atom transistor [10] and, at the same time, can be simulated by a relatively simple model. The solutions of this model can be expressed, with great accuracy, by analytical expressions.

However, since this configuration is based on quantum tunneling, the single atom is not directly connected to the conducting leads (for resonant tunneling via a point defect without the insulators, see [15, 16]). Such a device is very difficult to manufacture, since the atom has to be encapsulated by the surrounding (other) atoms; it has to be located with great accuracy, and due to the resonant nature of the device, the atom must be located exactly at the center of the device; otherwise, the device's efficiency exponentially decreases.

However, resonant tunneling is not essential to achieve fine control. For example, it has been shown that a single-point defect in a nanowire can be a perfect reflector for certain energies. Moreover, the point defect can cause a universal conduction reduction. At certain Fermi energies, the conductance drops at exactly <sup>2</sup> 2e =h [17].

' Since the energy level of the point defects bound state can be modified, then a simple nanowire with a single defect (a single atom) can be used as a nanotransistor. This is a much simpler device, which can be produced in fewer production stages than resonant-tunneling devices.

However, to control the resonance energy of the point defect, an external electric field should be applied. The field affects the entire device and does not selectively influence only the defect. Therefore, there is a need for a complete model, which integrates the nanowire, the point defect, and the electric field.

' The object of this chapter is to present such a model of a nanotransistor, which is governed not by resonant-tunneling process but by Fano anti-resonance [18], which is generated by the interaction between the point defect and the nanowire. In this transistor configuration, the FETs gate is controlled by an external electric field.
