Density-gradient analysis of tunneling in MOS structures with ultra-thin oxides

Quantum transport theory in the density-gradient approximation is applied to the analysis of tunneling phenomena in ultra-thin oxide (<25 A) MOS structures. Detailed comparisons are made with experimental I-V data for samples with both n/sup +/ and p/sup +/ polysilicon gates and all of the features of this data are found to be understandable within the density-gradient framework. Besides providing new understanding of the experiments, these results show the density-gradient approach to be useful for engineering-oriented device analysis in quantum regimes with current flow.