Numerical analysis of electron tunneling through heterointerfaces and Schottky barriers in heterostructure devices

We report results of 2D simulations of the electron tunneling through hetero-interfaces and gate Schottky contact in AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMT. For the first time the rigorous non-local tunneling models have been applied for heterostructure device simulations. The simulations have been performed within hydrodynamic transport model in order to account for hot electron effects. We find that the tunneling through hetero-interfaces fully controls the drain current, while tunneling through the Schottky barrier is responsible for the gate leakage and can significantly affect the transfer characteristics.