Currents, surface potentials, and defect generation in 1.2-1.5 nm oxide MOSFETs

The few mono-layers limit of oxide thickness is experimentally investigated for the magnitude of tunneling current and the limitations to MOSFETS are described due to gate leakage arising from accumulation currents. A gate-current spectroscopy technique is described to obtain the channel potential in the long and short-channel limit, and additional supporting evidence provided for the anode-to-cathode conducting path for breakdown.