Direct Tunneling Currents Through Gate Dielectrics in Deep Submicron MOSFETs

A direct tunneling model through gate dielectric s in CMOS devices in the frame of WKB approximation is reported.In the model,an im proved one-band effective mass approximation is used for the hole quantization, where valence band mixing is taken into account.By comparing to the experiments, the model is demonstrated to be applicable to both electron and hole tunneling c urrents in CMOS devices.The effect of the dispersion in oxide energy gap on the tunneling current is also studied.This model can be further extended to study th e direct tunneling current in future high-k materials.

Effectof Neutral Traps on Tunneling Current and SILC in Ultrathin Oxide Layer

The effect of neutral trap on tunneling currentin ultrathin MOSFETs is investigated by num erical analy- sis.The barrier variation arisen by neutral trap in oxide layer is described as a rectangular potential well in the con- duction band of Si O2 .The different barrier variation of an ultrathin metal- oxide- sem iconductor(MOS) structure with oxide thickness of4nm is numerically calculated.It is shown that the effect of neutral trap on tunneling cur- rent can not be neglected.The tunneling current is increased when the neutral trap exists in the oxide layer.This simple m odel can be used to understand the occurring mechanism of stress induced leakage current.

An Empirical Direct Tunneling Current Expression for Ultra-Thin Oxide nMOSFETs

An empirical expression for the direct tunneling (DT) current is obtained.This expression can be used to calculate the DT current for nMOSFETs with ultra thin oxide when the oxide thickness is considered as an adjustable parameter.The results have good agreement with the experimental data.And the oxide thickness obtained is less than the value acquired from the capacitance voltage( C V )method.

Comparison of tunneling currents in graphene nanoribbon tunnel field effect transistors calculated using Dirac-like equation and Schrodinger’s equation

The tunneling current in a graphene nanoribbon tunnel field effect transistor(GNR-TFET) has been quantum mechanically modeled. The tunneling current in the GNR-TFET was compared based on calculations of the Dirac-like equation and Schrodinger’s equation. To calculate the electron transmittance, a numerical approach-namely the transfer matrix method(TMM)-was employed and the Launder formula was used to compute the tunneling current. The results suggest that the tunneling currents that were calculated using both equations have similar characteristics for the same parameters, even though they have different values. The tunneling currents that were calculated by applying the Dirac-like equation were lower than those calculated using Schrodinger’s equation.

Modeling of tunneling current in ultrathin MOS structure with interface trap charge and fixed oxide charge

A model based on analysis of the self-consistent Poisson-Schrodinger equation is proposed to investigate the tunneling current of electrons in the inversion layer of a p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor （MOS） structure. In this model, the influences of interface trap charge （ITC） at the Si-SiO2 interface and fixed oxide charge （FOC） in the oxide region are taken into account, and one-band effective mass approximation is used. The tunneling probability is obtained by employing the transfer matrix method. Further, the effects of in-plane momentum on the quantization in the electron motion perpendicular to the Si-SiO2 interface of a MOS device are investigated. Theoretical simulation results indicate that both ITC and FOC have great influence on the tunneling current through a MOS structure when their densities are larger than l012 cm 2, which results from the great change of bound electrons near the Si-SiO2 interface and the oxide region. Therefore, for real ultrathin MOS structures with ITC and FOC, this model can give a more accurate description for the tunneling current in the inversion layer.

Modulated Quasi-plane Tunneling Current

A new tutmeling junction can be formed by an insulator layer inserting into a quantum well, and in the quantum well, a quasi-plane tunneling current can be formed by applying a tunneling voltage. If a P-N junction is grown on the quantum well, the tunneling current can be modulated by a P-N junction-bias voltage. The modulated quasi-plane tunneling current is not only related to the bias voltage, but also to the depth of the quantum well. It is analyzed that the P-N junction-bias voltage how to affect the tunneling current and a method of measuring the depth of the quantum well is presented.

Comparison of electron transmittances and tunneling currents in an anisotropic TiN_x/HfO_2/SiO_2/p-Si(100) metal-oxide-semiconductor(MOS) capacitor calculated using exponential- and Airy-wavefunction approaches and a transfer matrix method

Analytical expressions of electron transmittance and tunneling current in an anisotropic TiNx/HfO2/SiO2/p-Si（100） metal-oxide-semiconductor （MOS） capacitor were derived by considering the coupling of transverse and longitudinal energies of an electron. Exponential and Airy wavefunctions were utilized to obtain the electron transmittance and the electron tunneling current. A transfer matrix method, as a numerical approach, was used as a benchmark to assess the analytical approaches. It was found that there is a similarity in the transmittances calculated among exponential- and Airy-wavefimction approaches and the TMM at low electron energies. However, for high energies, only the transmit- tance calculated by using the Airy-wavefunction approach is the same as that evaluated by the TMM. It was also found that only the tunneling currents calculated by using the Airy-wavefunction approach are the same as those obtained under the TMM for all range of oxide voltages. Therefore, a better analytical description for the tunneling phenomenon in the MOS capacitor is given by the Airy-wavefunction approach. Moreover, the tunneling current density decreases as the titanium concentration of the TiNx metal gate increases because the electron effective mass of TiNx decreases with increasing nitrogen concentration. In addition, the mass anisotropy cannot be neglected because the tunneling currents obtained under the isotropic and anisotropic masses are very different.

Theoretical study of the SiO_2/Si interface and its effect on energy band profile and MOSFET gate tunneling current

Two SiO_2/Si interface structures,which are described by the double bonded model（DBM） and the bridge oxygen model（BOM）,have been theoretically studied via first-principle calculations.First-principle simulations demonstrate that the width of the transition region for the interface structure described by DBM is larger than that for the interface structure described by BOM.Such a difference will result in a difference in the gate leakage current. Tunneling current calculation demonstrates that the SiO_2/Si interface structure described by DBM leads to a larger gate leakage current.

Modeling of tunneling current density of GeC based double barrier multiple quantum well resonant tunneling diode

The double barrier quantum well（DBQW） resonant tunneling diode（RTD） structure made of SiGeSn/GeC/SiGeSn alloys grown on Ge substrate is analyzed. The tensile strained Ge（1-z）Cz on Si（1-x-y）GexSny heterostructure provides a direct band gap type I configuration. The transmission coefficient and tunneling current density have been calculated considering single and multiple quantum wells. A comparative study of tunnelling current of the proposed structure is done with the existing RTD structure based on GeSn/SiGeSn DBH. A higher value of the current density for the proposed structure has been obtained.

Analytical modeling of the direct tunneling current through high-k gate stacks for long-channel cylindrical surrounding-gate MOSFETs

An analytical direct tunneling gate current model for cylindrical surrounding gate（CSG） MOSFETs with high-k gate stacks is developed. It is found that the direct tunneling gate current is a strong function of the gate＇s oxide thickness, but that it is less affected by the change in channel radius. It is also revealed that when the thickness of the equivalent oxide is constant, the thinner the first layer, the smaller the direct tunneling gate current.Moreover, it can be seen that the dielectric with a higher dielectric constant shows a lower tunneling current than expected. The accuracy of the analytical model is verified by the good agreement of its results with those obtained by the three-dimensional numerical device simulator ISE.

Influence of the finite size effect of Si（001）/SiO2 interface on the gate leakage current in nano-scale transistors

With the device size gradually approaching the physical limit, the small changes of the Si(001)/SiO 2 interface in silicon-based devices may have a great impact on the device characteristics. Based on this, the bridge-oxygen model is used to construct the interface of different sizes, and the finite size effect of the interface between fine electronic structure silicon and silicon dioxide is studied. Then, the influence of the finite size effect on the electrical properties of nanotransistors is calculated by using the first principle. Theoretical calculation results demonstrate that the bond length of Si-Si and Si-O shows a saturate tendency when the size increases, while the absorption capacity of visible light and the barrier of the interface increase with the decrease of size. Finally, the results of two tunneling current models show that the finite size effect of Si(001)/SiO 2 interface can lead to a larger change in the gate leakage current of nano-scale devices, and the transition region and image potential, which play an important role in the calculation of interface characteristics of large-scale devices, show different sensitivities to the finite size effect. Therefore, the finite size effect of the interface on the gate leakage current cannot be ignored in nano-scale devices.

Effect of coherent-light phase on tunneling process

The coherent-light-driven tunneling in double quantum wells has been studied.The electrons are coupled to a system of phonons and subjected to the two beams of coherentlyoptical waves. By adopting a gauge to both the external field and the phonon field, the phonon fieldoperators in the Schrodinger equations are eliminated. In this way, an expression of the tunnelingcurrent is conveniently derived considering the relaxation effect. It is shown that under theintense laser field, the tunneling current oscillates rapidly with time at low temperature. Theduration of the oscillations is related to the temperature. By adjusting the phase difference of thetwo light-beams, the oscillation frequency can be modulated.

On the reverse leakage current of Schottky contacts on free-standing GaN at high reverse biases

In this work, a dislocation-related tunneling leakage current model is developed to explain the temperature-dependent reverse current–voltage（I–V –T） characteristics of a Schottky barrier diode fabricated on free-standing GaN substrate for reverse-bias voltages up to-150 V. The model suggests that the reverse leakage current is dominated by the direct tunneling of electrons from Schottky contact metal into a continuum of states associated with conductive dislocations in GaN epilayer.A reverse leakage current ideality factor, which originates from the scattering effect at metal/GaN interface, is introduced into the model. Good agreement between the experimental data and the simulated I–V curves is obtained.

The leakage current mechanisms in the Schottky diode with a thin Al layer insertion between Al_(0.245)Ga_(0.755)N/GaN heterostructure and Ni/Au Schottky contact

This paper investigates the behaviour of the reverse-bias leakage current of the Schottky diode with a thin Al inserting layer inserted between Al0.245Ga0.755N/GaN heterostructure and Ni/Au Schottky contact in the temperature range of 25 350℃. It compares with the Schottky diode without Aluminium inserting layer. The experimental results show that in the Schottky diode with Al layer the minimum point of I-V curve drifts to the minus voltage, and with the increase of temperature increasing, the minimum point of I V curve returns the 0 point. The temperature dependence of gate-leakage currents in the novelty diode and the traditional diode are studied. The results show that the Al inserting layer introduces interface states between metal and Al0.245Ga0.755N. Aluminium reacted with oxygen formed Al2O3 insulator layer which suppresses the trap tunnelling current and the trend of thermionic field emission current. The reliability of the diode at the high temperature is improved by inserting a thin Al layer.

New dark current component of InGaAs/InP HPDs confirmed by DLTS

The dark current of In_(0.47) Ga_(0.53) As/InP heterojunction photodiodes (HPDs) was analysed. We found that there exists a new dark current component──deep level-assisted tunnelling current.DLTS was used to measure the In_(0.47)Ga_(0.53)As/InP HPDs. An electronic trap which has a thermal activation energy of O.44 eV, level concentration of 3.10×10￣(13)cm￣(-3) and electronic capture cross section of 1.72×10￣(12)cm￣2 has been found.It's existence results in the new tunnelling current.

Conduction Mechanism Analysis of Inversion Current in MOS Tunnel Diodes

Self inversion issue and excess capacitance phenomenon were observed for the first time in relatively thick silicon dioxide (SiO2) in the form of MOS (metal(Al)/SiO2/p type crystalline silicon) structure. Both phenomena were based on minority carriers (electrons in this case) and studied through DC current-applied bias voltage (I-V) and AC admittance measurements in dark/light condition as a function of ambient temperature (295 - 380 K). Either of the cases was the departure of traditional MOS analysis, manifesting themselves in the inversion regime of MOS diode. Increase in frequency/temperature/light intensity within dark and light conditions led to weaken the maxima of hump in C-V curves and finally turned into deep depletion mode after exceeding threshold value of frequency/temperature/light intensity. In resumed conditions, supplementary I-V measurements were carried out to describe the generation and conduction mechanism(s) for minority carriers (electrons).

Tunneling field effect transistors based on in-plane and vertical layered phosphorus heterostructures

Tunneling field effect transistors（TFETs） based on two-dimensional materials are promising contenders to the traditional metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor, mainly due to potential applications in low power devices. Here,we investigate the TFETs based on two different integration types： in-plane and vertical heterostructures composed of two kinds of layered phosphorous（β-P and δ-P） by ab initio quantum transport simulations. NDR effects have been observed in both in-plane and vertical heterostructures, and the effects become significant with the highest peak-to-valley ratio（PVR）when the intrinsic region length is near zero. Compared with the in-plane TFET based on β-P and δ-P, better performance with a higher on/off current ratio of - 10-6 and a steeper subthreshold swing（SS） of - 23 mV/dec is achieved in the vertical TFET. Such differences in the NDR effects, on/off current ratio and SS are attributed to the distinct interaction nature of theβ-P and δ-P layers in the in-plane and vertical heterostructures.

New Derivation of Simple Josephson Effect Relation Using New Quantum Mechanical Equation

A relation of the Josephson current density equation is successfully derived;this is done through a new derivation of the equation of quantum by neglecting kinetic Newtonian term in the energy expression.

Polyhedral silver clusters as single molecule ammonia sensor based on charge transfer-induced plasmon enhancement

The unique plasmon resonance characteristics of nanostructures based on metal clusters have always been the focus of various plasmon devices and different applications. In this work, the plasmon resonance phenomena of polyhedral silver clusters under the adsorption of NH_(3) , N_(2), H_(2), and CH_(4) molecules are studied by using time-dependent density functional theory. Under the adsorption of NH_(3) , the tunneling current of silver clusters changes significantly due to the charge transfer from NH_(3) to silver clusters. However, the effects of N_(2), H_(2), and CH_(4) adsorption on the tunneling current of silver clusters are negligible. Our results indicate that these silver clusters exhibit excellent selectivities and sensitivities for NH_(3) detection. These findings confirm that the silver cluster is a promising NH_(3) sensor and provide a new method for designing high-performance sensors in the future.

Single-electron transport through single and coupling dopant atoms in silicon junctionless nanowire transistor

We investigated single-electron tunneling through single and coupling dopant-induced quantum dots(QDs) in silicon junctionless nanowire transistor(JNT) by varying temperatures and bias voltages. We observed that two possible charge states of the isolated QD confined in the axis of the initial narrowest channel are successively occupied as the temperature increases above 30 K. The resonance states of the double single-electron peaks emerge below the Hubbard band, at which several subpeaks are clearly observed respectively in the double oscillated current peaks due to the coupling of the QDs in the atomic scale channel. The electric field of bias voltage between the source and the drain could remarkably enhance the tunneling possibility of the single-electron current and the coupling strength of several dopant atoms. This finding demonstrates that silicon JNTs are the promising potential candidates to realize the single dopant atom transistors operating at room temperature.