Anomalous Width Dependence of Gate Current in High-K Metal Gate nMOS Transistors

Duhan, PardeepPardeepDuhanGaneriwala, Mohit D.Mohit D.GaneriwalaRao, V. RamgopalV. RamgopalRaoMohapatra, Nihar R.Nihar R.Mohapatra2025-08-302025-08-302015-08-0110.1109/LED.2015.24404452-s2.0-84937907058http://repository.iitgn.ac.in/handle/IITG2025/21429This letter analyzes the width dependence of gate current observed in nMOS transistors fabricated using the 28-nm gate-first CMOS process. It is experimentally shown that the gate current density is ∼ 10× lower for 80-nm wide high permittivity ( K ) dielectrics and metal gate nMOS transistors compared with 1-μ m wider ones. The physical mechanism responsible for this anomalous width dependence is identified and attributed to the reduction in the average number of positively charged oxygen vacancies present in HfO<inf>2</inf> for narrow width transistors.falsedevice scaling | gate current | HKMG | metal gate | MOS transistor | oxygen vacancies | trap assisted tunnelingAnomalous Width Dependence of Gate Current in High-K Metal Gate nMOS TransistorsArticle739-7411 August 2015871164899WOS:000358570300001