Noise model of gate-leakage current in ultrathin oxide MOSFETs

A physics-based analytical model of the gate-leakage current noise in ultrathin gate oxide MOSFETs is presented. The noise model is based on an inelastic trap-assisted tunneling transport. We employ the barrier height fluctuation model and the Lorentzian-modulated shot noise of the gate-leakage current stemming from the two-dimensional electron gas channel to explain the excess noise behavior. The excess noise can be interpreted as the sum of 1/f(gamma) noise and the Lorentzian-modulated shot noise. Trap-related processes are the most likely cause of excess current noise because slow traps in the oxide can result in low-frequency dissipation in the conductance of oxides and fast traps can produce the Lorentzian-modulated shot noise associated with generation-recombination process at higher frequencies. In order to verify the proposed noise model, the simulation results are compared with experimental data, and excellent agreement is observed.