  We present a simple model to describe the lowest-subbands surface scattering
in locally oxidized silicon nanowires grown in the [110] direction. To this
end, we employ an atomistically scaled effective mass model projected from a
three-dimensional effective mass equation and apply a quantum transport
formalism to calculate the conductance for typical potential profiles.
Comparison of our results with hole-transport calculations using atomistic
models in conjunction with density functional theory (DFT) points to an
intra-subband scattering mechanism from a potential well.
