UTB SOI SRAM cell stability under the influence of intrinsic parameter fluctuation

Intrinsic parameter fluctuations steadily increases with CMOS technology scaling. Around the 90nm technology node, such fluctuations will eliminate much of the available noise margin in SRAM based on conventional MOSFETs. Ultra thin body (UTB) SOI MOSFETs are expected to replace conventional MOSFETs for integrated memory applications due to superior electrostatic integrity and better resistant to some of the sources of intrinsic parameter fluctuations. To fully realise the performance benefits of UTB SOI based SRAM cells a statistical circuit simulation methodology which can fully capture intrinsic parameter fluctuation information into the compact model is developed. The impact on 6T SRAM static noise margin characteristics of discrete random dopants in the source/drain regions and body-thickness variations has been investigated for well scaled devices with physical channel length in the range of 10nm to 5nm. A comparison with the behaviour of a 6T SRAM based on a conventional 35nm MOSFET is also presented

Analytical predictive 2d modeling of pinch-off behavior in nanoscale multi-gate mosfets

In this thesis the pinch-off behavior in nanoscale Multi-Gate MOSFETs was reviewed and with compact models described. For this a 2D approach with Schwarz-Christoffel conformal mapping technique was used. A model to calculate the current in single gate MOSFETs was derived and compared to device simulations from TCAD Sentaurus down to 50nm. For the DoubleGate MOSFET a new way to define the saturation point was found. A fully 2D closed-form model to locate this point was created. It was also found that with quantum mechanics effects a pinch-off point can occur and can be described with the same model. Furthermore the model was extended to describe the coupled pinch-off points in an asymmetrical biased DoubleGate MOSET with an even an odd mode. Also the saturation point behavior in FinFETs was examinated

Nanowire Transistors and RF Circuits for Low-Power Applications

The background of this thesis is related to the steadily increasing demand of higher bandwidth and lower power consumption for transmitting data. The work aims at demonstrating how new types of structures, at the nanoscale, combined with what is referred to as exotic materials, can help benefit in electronics by lowering the consumed power, possibly by an order of magnitude, compared to the industry standard, silicon (Si), used today. Nanowires are semiconductor rods, with two dimensions at the nanoscale, which can be either grown with a bottom-up technique, or etched out with a top-down approach. The research interest concerning nanowires has gradually increasing for over two decades. Today, few have doubts that nanowires represent an attractive alternative, as scaling of planar structures has reached fundamental limits. With the enhanced electrostatics of a surrounding gate, nanowires offer the possibility of continued miniaturization, giving semiconductors a prolonged window of performance improvements. As a material choice, compound semiconductors with elements from group III and V (III-Vs), such as indium arsenide (InAs), have the possibility to dramatically decrease power consumption. The reason is the inherent electron transport properties of III-Vs, where an electron can travel, in the order of, 10 times faster than in Si. In the projected future, inclusion of III-Vs, as an extension to the Si-CMOS platform, seems almost inevitable, with many of the largest electronics manufacturing companies showing great interest. To investigate the technology potential, we have fabricated InAs nanowire metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors (NW-FETs). The performance has been evaluated measuring both RF and DC characteristics. The best devices show a transconductance of 1.36 mS/µm (a device with a single nanowire, normalized to the nanowire circumference) and a maximum unilateral power gain at 57 GHz (for a device with several parallel nanowires), both values at a drive voltage of 0.5 V. The performance metrics are found to be limited by the capacitive load of the contact pads as well as the resistance in the non-gated segments of the nanowires. Using computer models, we have also been able to extract intrinsic transport properties, quantifying the velocity of charge carrier injection, which is the limiting property of semi-ballistic and ballistic devices. The value for our 45-nm-in-diameter nanowires, with 200 nm channel length, is determined to 1.7∙107 cm/s, comparable to other state-of-the-art devices at the same channel length. To demonstrate a higher level of functionality, we have connected several NW-FETs in a circuit. The fabricated circuit is a single balanced differential direct conversion mixer and is composed of three stages; transconductance, mixing, and transimpedance. The basic idea of the mixer circuit is that an information signal can either be extracted from or inserted into a carrier wave at a higher frequency than the information wave itself. It is the relative size of the first and the third stage that accounts for the circuit conversion gain. Measured circuits show a voltage conversion gain of 6 dB and a 3-dB bandwidth of 2 GHz. A conversion mixer is a vital component when building a transceiver, like those found in a cellphone and any other type of radio signal transmitting device. For all types of signals, noise imposes a fundamental limitation on the minimal, distinguishable amplitude. As transistors are scaled down, fewer carriers are involved in charge transport, and the impact of frequency dependent low-frequency noise gets relatively larger. Aiming towards low power applications, it is thus of importance to minimize the amount of transistor generated noise. Included in the thesis are studies of the level and origin of low-frequency 1/f-noise generated in NW-FETs. The measured noise spectral density is comparable to other non-planar devices, including those fabricated in Si. The data suggest that the level of generated noise can be substantially lowered by improving the high-k dielectric film quality and the channel interface. One significant discovery is that the part of the noise originating from the bulk nanowire, identified as mobility fluctuations, is comparably much lower than the measured noise level related to the nanowire surface. This result is promising as mobility fluctuations set the lower limit of what is achievable within a material system

Compact Models and the Physics of Nanoscale FETs

The device physics of nanoscale MOSFETs is reviewed and related to traditional compact models. Beginning with the Virtual Source model, a model for nanoscale MOSFETs expressed in traditional form, we show how a Landauer approach gives a clear, physical interpretation to the parameters in the model. The analysis shows that transport in the channel is limited by diffusion near the virtual source both below and above threshold, that current saturation is determined by velocity saturation near the source, not by the maximum velocity in the channel, and that the channel resistance approaches a finite value as the channel length approaches zero. These results help explain why traditional models continue to work well at the nanoscale, even though carrier transport is distinctly different from that at the microscale, and they identify the essential physics that physics-based compact models for nanoscale MOSFETs should comprehend

Compact Models for Integrated Circuit Design

This modern treatise on compact models for circuit computer-aided design (CAD) presents industry standard models for bipolar-junction transistors (BJTs), metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) field-effect-transistors (FETs), FinFETs, and tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs), along with statistical MOS models. Featuring exercise problems at the end of each chapter and extensive references at the end of the book, the text supplies fundamental and practical knowledge necessary for efficient integrated circuit (IC) design using nanoscale devices. It ensures even those unfamiliar with semiconductor physics gain a solid grasp of compact modeling concepts

Design evolution of dual-material gate structure in cylindrical surrounding double-gate (CSDG) MOSFET using physics-based analytical modeling.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu- Natal, Durban.The Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) is the fundamental component in present Micro and Nano-electronics device applications, such as switching, memory devices, communication devices, etc. MOSFET’s dimension has shrunk down following Moore’s law to attain high-speed operation and packing density integration. The scaling of conventional MOSFET has been the most prominent technological challenge in the past few years because the decreasing device dimensions increase the charge sharing from the source to the drain and that in turn give rises to the reduced gate-control over the channel, hot carrier induced degradation, and other SCEs. These undesired effects devaluate the device performance that compels optimum device design analysis for particular operating conditions. Therefore, several innovative device design/architectures, including Double-gate, FinFET, Surrounding gate MOSFET, etc., have been developed to mitigate device scaling challenges. Comprehensive research can be traced long for one such promising gate-all-around MOSFET, i.e., Cylindrical Surrounding Double-Gate (CSDG) MOSFET centrally hollow concentric structure, provides an additional internal control gate that improves the device electrical performance and offers easy accessibility. There have been several developments in terms of improvements, and applications of CSDG MOSFET have been practiced since after its evolution. This thesis’s work has been targeted to incorporate the gate material engineering in the CSDG structure after appropriate analysis of device physics-based modeling. In particular to the proposed structure, the electric field, pinch off capacitance, and after that thickness of the device parameters’ dependence have been mathematically derived from attaining the objective. Finally, a model based on a dual-material gate in CSDG MOSFET has been proposed. The electrical field in CSDG MOSFET has been analyzed in detail using a mathematical derivation of device physics, including the Surface-Potential, threshold voltage, and the gate-oxide capacitances of the internal and external part of the device. Further, the gate-oxide capacitance of CSDG MOSFET, particularly to the device pinch-off condition, has been derived. Since the device operation and analysis at the shorter channel are not similar to conventional long-channel MOSFETs, the depletion-width variation has been studied. The identified notion has been applied to derive the approximate numerical solution and silicon thickness inducing parameters for CSDG MOSFET to deploy the improvements in the device performance and novel design modifications. As the gate-material and gate-stack engineering is an alternative to overcome the device performance degradation by enhancing the charge transport efficiency, the CSDG MOSFET in a novel Dual-Metal Gate (DMG) structure design has been proposed and analyzed using the solution of 2D Poisson’s equations in the geometrical boundary conditions of the device. The model expressions obtained solution using the proposed structure has been compared with a single metal gate structure. Finally, it has been analyzed that the proposed model exhibits an excellent match with the analytical model. The obtained DMG device structure advances the carrier velocity and transport efficiency, resulting in the surface-potential profile caused by dissimilar gate metal work-function. The superior device characteristics obtained employing a dual-material structure in CSDG are promising and can reduce the threshold voltage roll-off, suppress the hot-carrier effects and SCEs

Surface Potential-Based Polycrystalline-Silicon Thin-Film Transistors Compact Model by Nonequilibrium Approach

We propose a surface potential-based polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs) compact model considering a nonequilibrium state. A drain current model considers grain boundary (GB) trap-related physical phenomena: composite mobility of GB and intragrain, GB bias-induced mobility modulation, transient behavior because of carrier capture and emission at GBs, pinch off voltage lowering, and GB trap-assisted leakage current. Besides, photoinduced current behavior is also considered by introducing quasi-Fermi potential. A capacitance model is derived from physically partitioned terminal charges and coupled to the drain current. This compact model allows us to accurately simulate static characteristics of various types of poly-Si TFTs, including temperature and luminance dependence. Furthermore, it succeeded to simulate frequency dependence of circuit performance derived from the trap-related transient behavior, which was verified by evaluating delay time in a 21-stage inverter chain