Thermionic emission model of electron gate current in submicron NMOSFETs

A thermionic emission model based on a non-Maxwellian electron energy distribution function for the electron gate current in NMOSFET´s is described. The model uses hydrodynamic equations to describe more correctly the electron transport and gate injection phenomena in submicron devices. A generalized analytical function is used to describe the high-energy tail of the electron energy distribution function. Coefficients of this generalized function are determined by comparing simulated gate currents with the experimental data. This model also includes the self-consistent calculation of the tunneling component of the gate current by using the WKB approximation, and by using a more accurate representation of the oxide barrier by including the image potential. Good agreement with gate currents over a wide range of bias conditions for three different technological sets of devices are demonstrated by using a single set of coefficients