A modification to the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling current calculation for thin MOS structures

This paper presents a new computer modeling of Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling current from an inverted silicon surface to the metal gate of the thin oxide MOS structures. In this model the tunneling current through the oxide is taken to be proportional to the product of the gate oxide field and the inversion layer carrier concentration. Within the semiconductor the standard semiconductor equations are solved to ensure electron current at the semiconductor surface is equal to the tunneling current through the oxide. The computational results indicate that the current-voltage characteristics of the structure would saturate if it is limited by carrier generation in the space-charge region of the silicon. This is known from previous experimental results reported in the literature