Physics of ultrathin-body silicon-on-insulator Schottky-barrier field-effect transistors

In this article we give an overview over the physical mechanisms involved in the electronic transport in ultrathin-body SOI Schottky-barrier MOSFETs. A strong impact of the SOI and gate oxide thickness on the transistor characteristics is found and explained using experimental as well as simulated data. We elaborate on the influence of scattering in the channel and show that for a significant barrier the on-state current is insensitive to scattering once the mean free path for scattering is larger than a characteristic length scale. In addition, recent efforts to lower the Schottky barrier at the source/drain channel interfaces are presented. Using dopant segregation during silicidation significantly lower effective Schottky barriers can be realized that allow for high performance SB-MOSFET devices. © Springer-Verlag 2007.