Which mechanism limits electron tunneling through ultra-thin gate oxides in modern MOSFETs, increasing leakage current?

💡 Explanation

When gate oxides become ultra-thin, direct tunneling of electrons occurs because the barrier width is reduced to the point where the wave function has a non-negligible probability of penetrating it, thus increasing leakage. Therefore direct tunneling limits performance, rather than phonon scattering, interface recombination, or thermionic emission, which require distinct energy and defect conditions.

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