Performance degradation of small silicon devices caused by long-range Coulomb interactions

In small silicon devices, conduction electrons in the channel are subject to long-range Coulomb interactions with electrons in the heavily doped drain, source, and gate regions. We show that, for devices with channel lengths shorter than about 40 nm and oxides thinner than 2.5 nm, these interactions cause a reduction of the electron velocity. We present results obtained using both semiclassical two-dimensional self-consistent Monte Carlo/Poisson simulations and a quantum-mechanical model based on electron scattering from gate-oxide interface plasmons. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.