Electron transport through high-κ dielectric barriers: A non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) study

We present a simulation study of the coherent transport of electrons through high permittivity (high-κ) dielectric barriers using the non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) formalism. Calculation and useful formula are established for a one-dimensional grid using a finite-difference scheme and an effective-mass depending on the position along the grid. A numerical simulation code is used to investigate the tunneling properties and the transmission coefficient of different metal–insulator–metal structures with stacked dielectrics and to compare single- or two-layer high-κ dielectric stacks in terms of tunneling transmission coefficient and local density-of-states. We particularly highlight the influence of wave-function reflections against barrier discontinuity on the transmission coefficient, especially in two-layer high-κ dielectric stacks.