Inversion channel mobility in high-/spl kappa/ high performance MOSFETs

For the first time, we present compelling theoretical and experimental evidence that the inversion channel mobility in HfO/sub 2//SiO(N)/Si is significantly reduced by soft-phonon scattering. This scattering mechanism - associated with the high-/spl kappa/ material itself - poses an intrinsic limit to the mobility that can not be countered by process optimization.