An Energy Transport Approach for MOSFET Breakdown Voltage Calculation

Under most bias conditions, the electric field in a MOSFET is higher at the surface than in the bulk. As a result, junction breakdown at the surface occurs at a relatively lower bias than that corresponding to the junction breakdown in the bulk. Because the surface field varies rapidly, the conventional model (e.g. the drift-diffusion model) may not adequately describe the carrier transport and the avalanche mechanism. In this paper, an energy transport approach, where the non-equilibrium effects of carrier transport are better modeled, is utilized for the calculation of MOSFET breakdown voltage.