Hole effective mass in silicon inversion layers with different substrate orientations and channel directions

Abstract

We explore the possibility to define an effective mass parameter to describe hole transport in inversion layers in bulk MOSFETs and silicon-on-insulator devices. To do so, we employ an accurate and computationally efficient self-consistent simulator based on the six-band k·p model. The valence band structure is computed for different substrate orientations and silicon layer thicknesses and is then characterized through the calculation of different effective masses taking account of the channel direction. The effective masses for quantization and density of states are extracted from the computed energy levels and subband populations, respectively. For the transport mass, a weighted averaging procedure is introduced and justified by comparing the results with hole mobility from experiments and simulations.