Electron and hole mobilities in inversion layers on thermally oxidized silicon surfaces

Extensive measurements of electron and hole mobilities in inversion layers on thermally oxidized silicon surfaces were performed using the field effect conductance technique. It was found that both electron and hole mobilities are practically constant and approximately equal to one half of their respective bulk values up to a surface field of about 1.5 × 10⁵volts/cm, corresponding to about 10¹²electronic charges/cm²induced in the silicon. At higher fields the inversion layer mobilities begin to decrease slightly. The temperature dependence of inversion layer mobilities follows a T^-1.5rule at the upper range of the interval -196 to 200°C, indicating a scattering mechanism similar to lattice scattering. This observation is further supported by the lack of a significant effect of an order-of-magnitude variation in the bulk impurity concentration (10¹⁵- 10¹⁶cm³) on the inversion layer mobilities. No significant effect of structural and geometrical parameters (such as channel length and shape, oxide type and thickness, and surface charge density) was found on the inversion layer mobilities.