Quantum corrected full-band semiclassical Monte Carlo simulation research of charge transport in Si, stressed-Si, and SiGe MOSFETs

This Ph.D. research is centered around a full-band Monte Carlo device simulator (“Monte Carlo at the University of Texas”, MCUT) with quantum corrections (based on one-dimensional Schrödinger equation solver). The code itself was based on a solid infrastructure of a Monte Carlo simulator, “MoCa” from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. To that there were added new methods and features during my Ph.D. program, including strained band structures, alternative (to conventional 100 ) surface orientations, full-band scattering mechanisms, and valley-dependent quantum correction. These features enable “MCUT” to be used to model various strained and/or alloyed silicon MOSFETs, as well as the MOSFETs composed of alternative materials such as Ge, in sub-100 nm regime. Monte Carlo simulation, itself, handles short channel effects and hot carriers in ultra small device well; full-band structure replaces the inaccurate and unknown (for new/strained materials) analytical formulae; and the quantum corrections approximate quantum-confinement effects on device performance. The goal is to understand and predict the device behavior of the so called “non-classical” CMOS ― beyond bulk Si based CMOS ― in the sub-100 nm regime.