Transport in deca-nanometric MOSFETs: from bandstructure to on-currents

This paper describes some of the most relevant challenges in the physically based modelling of transport in nano-MOSFETs. In particular, we start by discussing the determination of the band-structure in nano-scale devices. In fact, most of the device engineering options affect the device performance through the band-structure, which determines the carrier velocity and the scattering rates. We then emphasize the need for models able to link the improvements in the uniform transport regime, such as the mobility enhancement, to the on-current of nano-scale MOSFETs, where the carrier transport is strongly non-local and not yet ballistic. We also briefly discuss transport issues difficult to deal with in the semi-classical framework, for which a full quantum transport treatment is very attractive