Numerical analysis for the effects of interface roughness on the attenuation amplitudes of Fowler-Nordheim tunneling current oscillations in ultrathin MOSFETs

The effects of interface roughness on the amplitudes of Fowler-Nordheim (FN ) tunneling current oscillations in ultrathin metal-oxide-semiconductor fie ld transistors are investigated by numerical analysis. The interface roughn ess is described in terms of Gauss distribution. The amplitudes of FN tunne ling current oscillations in ultrathin gate oxides are shown to decrease mu ch with SiO2-Si interface roughness increasing. The factor of attenuation a mplitudes increases exponentially with SiO2-Si interface roughness increasi ng. This means that the changes in amplitudes and the factors of attenuatio n amplitudes may be used to extract the information about the interface rou ghness. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.