Physics

Electron

Transistor

MOSFET

Mathematics

Optics

Statistics

Voltage

Band gap

Atomic physics

Scattering

Materials science

Monte Carlo method

Quantum mechanics

Optoelectronics

Nanowire

IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices

The energy distributions of electrons in gate-all-around (GAA) Si MOSFETs are analyzed using full-band 3-D Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. Excellent agreement is obtained with experimental current-voltage characteristics. For these 24-nm gate length devices, the electron distribution features a smeared energy peak with an extended tail. This extension of the tail results primarily from the Coulomb scattering within the channel. A fraction of electrons that enter the drain retains their energy, resulting in an out-of-equilibrium distribution in the drain region. The simulated density and average energy of the hot electrons correlate well with experimentally observed device degradation. We propose that the interaction of high-energy electrons with hydrogen-passivated phosphorus dopant complexes within the drain may provide an additional pathway for interface-trap formation in these devices.

3-D Full-Band Monte Carlo Simulation of Hot-Electron Energy Distributions in Gate-All-Around Si Nanowire MOSFETs