First-Principles Mobility Calculations and Atomic-Scale Interface Roughness in Nanoscale Structures

Calculations of mobilities have so far been carried out using approximate methods that suppress atomic-scale detail. Such approaches break down in nanoscale structures. Here we report the development of a method to calculate mobilities using atomic-scale models of the structures and density functional theory at various levels of sophistication and accuracy. The method is used to calculate the effect of atomic-scale roughness on electron mobilities in ultrathin double-gate silicon-on-insulator structures. The results elucidate the origin of the significant reduction in mobility observed in ultrathin structures at low electron densities.