Universal tunneling behavior in technologically relevant P/N junction diodes

Profiles representatives of present and future silicon complementary metal-oxide-silicon (CMOS) field effect transistors were used to study the band-to-band tunneling in ion-implanted P/N junction diodes. A quasi-universal exponential reduction of tunneling current versus tunneling distance was found when the tunneling current was plotted against the effective tunneling distance. It corresponded to a tunneling effective mass and an extrapolated tunneling current at zero tunnel distance. The results are useful for analyzing ultrascaled metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) transistors and in quantifying the limits of silicon CMOS.