CHAPTER10FundamentalsoftheMetalOxide SemiconductorFieldEffectTransistor

Studythecharacteristicsofenergybandsasafunctionofapplied voltageinthemetaloxidesemiconductorstructureknownasthe MOScapacitor.TheMOScapacitoristheheartoftheMOSFET. Discusstheconceptofsurfaceinversioninthesemiconductorofthe MOScapacitor. Defineandderivetheexpressionforthethreshold voltage,whichisa basicparameteroftheMOSFET. DiscussvariousphysicalstructuresofMOSFETs,including enhancementanddepletionmodedevices. DerivetheidealcurrentvoltagerelationshipoftheMOSFET. DevelopthesmallsignalequivalentcircuitoftheMOSFET.Thiscircuit isusedtorelatesmallsignalcurrentsandvoltagesinanalogcircuits. DerivethefrequencylimitingfactorsoftheMOSFET.
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10.1|THETWOTERMINALMOS STRUCTURE
Theparametertox inthefigureisthe thicknessoftheoxideandox isthe permittivityoftheoxide.

10.1.1EnergyBandDiagrams

Figure10.4ashowstheidealcasewhenzerobiasisappliedacrosstheMOS device.Theenergybandsinthesemiconductorareflatindicatingnonet chargeexistsinthesemiconductor.Thisconditionisknownasflatband

positiveelectronenergyisplotted upwardandpositivevoltageis plotteddownward. Figure10.5showsthattheintrinsic Fermilevelatthesurfaceisnow below theFermilevel. createdaninversionlayerof electronsattheoxide semiconductorinterface.
ThesametypeofenergybanddiagramscanbeconstructedforaMOScapacitor withanntypesemiconductorsubstrate.

Figure10.7cshowstheenergy bandswhenalargernegative voltageisappliedtothegate. Theconductionandvalence bandsarebentevenmoreand theintrinsicFermilevelhas movedabovetheFermilevel.

10.1.2

DepletionLayerThickness

Thepotentials iscalledthe surfacepotential;itisthe difference(inV)betweenEFi measuredinthebulk semiconductorandEFi measured atthesurface. ThespacechargewidthXd, s isthepermittivityofthe semiconductor.
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Figure10.9showstheenergy bandsforthecaseinwhich s=2fp.TheFermi levelatthesurfaceisasfar abovetheintrinsiclevelas theFermilevelisbelowthe intrinsiclevelinthebulk semiconductor.

Theelectronconcentrationatthesurfaceisthesameastheholeconcentrationin thebulkmaterial.Thisconditionisknownasthethresholdinversionpoint.The appliedgatevoltagecreatingthisconditionisknownasthethresholdvoltage. Ifthegatevoltageincreasesabovethisthresholdvalue,theconductionbandwill bendslightly closertotheFermilevel,butthechangeintheconductionbandatthe surfaceisnowonlyaslightfunctionofgatevoltage. Theelectronconcentrationatthesurfaceisanexponentialfunctionofthesurface potential.Thesurfacepotentialmayincreasebyafew(kT/e)volts,whichwill changetheelectronconcentrationbyordersofmagnitude,butthespacecharge widthchangesonlyslightly.Inthiscase,then,thespacechargeregionhas essentiallyreachedamaximumwidth. 7

10.1.3

SurfaceChargeDensity

theinversionchargedensityincreasesbya factorof10witha60mVincreaseinsurface potential. theelectroninversionchargedensityincreases rapidlywithsmallincreasesinsurfacepotential, whichmeansthatthespacechargewidth essentiallyreachesamaximumvalue.

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10.1.4 WorkFunctionDifferences Themetalworkfunctionism andtheelectronaffinityisx.Theparameterxi istheoxideelectronaffinityand,forSiO2,xi=0.9V.

masamodifiedmetalworkfunctionthepotentialrequiredto injectanelectronfromthemetalintotheconductionbandofthe oxide.Similarly,xisdefinedasamodifiedelectronaffinity.The voltageVox0isthepotentialdropacrosstheoxideforzeroapplied gatevoltage.Thepotentials0isthesurfacepotentialforthiscase.

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Degeneratelydopedpolysilicon isusedasthemetalgate.

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Figure10.15showstheenergy banddiagramoftheMOS capacitorwithantypesubstrate,

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10.1.5FlatBandVoltage Theflatbandvoltageisdefinedasthe appliedgatevoltagesuchthatthereisno bandbendinginthesemiconductorand,as aresult,zeronetspacechargeinthis region.

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anequivalenttrappedchargeperunitarea,Qss,islocatedintheoxide directlyadjacenttotheoxidesemiconductorinterface. Thepositivechargehasbeenidentifiedwithbrokenordanglingcovalent bondsneartheoxidesemiconductorinterface.

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CommentofEx10.3 Theappliedgatevoltage requiredtoachievetheflatband conditionforthisptype substrateisnegative.Ifthe amountoffixedoxidecharge increases,theflatbandvoltage becomesevenmorenegative.

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10.1.6 ThresholdVoltage Thethresholdinversionpoint,inturn,isdefinedasthe conditionwhenthesurfacepotentialiss=2fpfortheptypesemiconductor ands=2fnforthentypesemiconductor Thespacechargewidthhasreached itsmaximum value. Thereisanequivalent oxidechargeQss andthepositive chargeonthemetalgateat thresholdisQmT. neglecttheinversionlayerchargeatthis thresholdinversionpoint.

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whereVoxT isthevoltageacrossthe oxideatthisthresholdinversionpoint.

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Extremelyimportant!!

Ex10.4Thesemiconductorisfairlylightlydoped,which,inconjunctionwiththe positivechargeintheoxideandtheworkfunctiondifference,issufficientto induceanelectroninversionlayerchargeevenwithzeroappliedgatevoltage. Thisconditionmakesthethresholdvoltagenegative.

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forvariouspositiveoxidecharge values. theptypesemiconductormust besomewhatheavilydopedin ordertoobtainanenhancement modedevice.

MoreNaVTN ,morepositive
Thesametypeofderivationcan bedonewithanntype semiconductorsubstrate,

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forallvaluesofpositiveoxidecharge

MoreNd,VTP morenegative

Ex10.5,Thesolutiontothisdesignproblemisnotstraight forward,sincethedopingconcentrationparameterappearsin thetermsfn,xdT,QsD (max),andms.Thethresholdvoltage, then,isanonlinearfunctionofNd.Weresorttotrialanderrorto obtainasolution.

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10.2|CAPACITANCEVOLTAGECHARACTERISTICS

10.2.1IdealCVCharacteristics TherearethreeoperatingconditionsofinterestintheMOS capacitor:accumulation,depletion,andinversion.

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inversion

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LowfrequencyCV
Thethreedashedsegmentscor respondtothethreecomponentsCox, CSCD,andCmin.Thesolidcurveis theidealnetcapacitanceoftheMOS capacitor.

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10.2.2FrequencyEffects
Therearetwosourcesofelectronsthatcanchangethechargedensityof theinversionlayer.Thefirstsourceisbydiffusionofminoritycarrier electronsfromtheptypesubstrateacrossthespacechargeregion.This diffusionprocessisthesameasthatinareversebiasedpn junctionthat generatestheidealreversesaturationcurrent.Thesecondsourceof electronsisbythermalgenerationofelectronholepairswithinthe spacechargeregion.Thisprocessisagainthesameasthatinareverse biasedpn junctiongeneratingthereversebiasedgenerationcurrent. Inthelimitofaveryhighfrequency,theinversionlayerchargewillnot respondtoadifferentialchangeincapacitorvoltage.

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Atahighsignalfrequency,the differentialchangeinchargeoccurs atthemetalandinthespace chargewidthinthesemiconductor. ThecapacitanceoftheMOS capacitoristhenCmin.

Ingeneral,highfrequency correspondstoavalueontheorder of1MHzandlowfrequency correspondstovaluesintherange of5to100Hz.Typically,thehigh frequencycharacteristicsofthe MOScapacitoraremeasured.

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10.2.3FixedOxideandInterfaceChargeEffects

TheCVcharacteristicscanbe usedtodeterminetheequivalent fixedoxidecharge.Foragiven MOSstructure,ms andCoxare known,sotheidealflatband voltageandflatbandcapacitance canbecalculated.The experimentalvalueofflatband voltagecanbemeasuredfromthe CVcurve,andthevalueoffixed oxidechargecanthenbe determined.TheCV measurementsareavaluable diagnostictooltocharacterizea MOSdevice.

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Theseallowedenergystatesare referredtoasinterfacestates. Chargecanflowbetweenthe semiconductorandinterface states,incontrasttothefixed oxidecharge.Thenetchargein theseinterfacestatesisa functionofthepositionofthe Fermilevelinthebandgap.

Ingeneral,acceptorstatesexistintheupperhalfofthebandgap and donorstatesexistinthelowerhalfofthebandgap. Anacceptorstate isneutraliftheFermilevelisbelowthestateandbecomesnegatively chargediftheFermilevelisabovethestate.Adonorstateisneutralif theFermilevelisabovethestateandbecomespositivelychargedif theFermilevelisbelowthestate.Thechargeoftheinterfacestatesis thenafunctionofthegatevoltageappliedacrosstheMOScapacitor.

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thereisanetposi tive charge trappedinthedonorstates.

thereisnowanetnegative chargeintheacceptorstates.

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CVcurvesbecomesmearedout

,Stretchout

Anysmearingoutintheexperimentalcurveindicatesthe presenceofinterfacestatesandanyparallelshiftindicatesthe presenceoffixedoxidecharge.Theamountofsmearingout canbeusedtodeterminethedensityofinterfacestates.These typesofmeasurementareextremelyusefulinthestudyof radiationeffectsonMOSdevices.

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10.3|THEBASICMOSFETOPERATION

Apositivegatevoltageinducesthe electroninversionlayer,whichthen connectsthentypesourceandthe ntypedrainregions.

thethresholdvoltageofa MOSdevicewithaptype substratemaybenegative; Thenchannelcanbean electroninversionlayeroran intentionallydopednregion.

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Inthepchannel enhancementmodedevice, anegative gatevoltage mustbeappliedtocreate aninversionlayerofholes thatwillconnectthep typesourceanddrain regions.

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WhenVGS<VT,thedraincurrentiszero. AsVGSbecomeslargerthanVT, channelinversionchargedensity increases,whichincreasesthechannel conductance. Alargervalueofgd producesalarger initialslopeoftheIDversusVDS characteristic

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Figure10.39b, Asthedrainvoltageincreases,thevoltagedropacrosstheoxidenear thedrainterminalde creases,whichmeansthattheinduced inversionchargedensitynearthedrainalsodecreases.The incrementalconductanceofthechannelatthedraindecreases,which thenmeansthattheslopeoftheIDversusVDScurvewilldecrease. Figure10.39c.

Figure10.39d, WhenVDSbecomeslargerthantheVDS(sat)value,thepointin thechannelatwhichtheinversionchargeisjustzeromovestoward thesourceterminal.

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Figure10.39d, Then,atthepointwherethechargegoestozero,theelectronsareinjected intothespacechargeregionwheretheyaresweptbytheEfieldtothedrain contact.IfweassumethatthechangeinchannellengthLissmallcompared totheoriginallengthL,thenthedraincurrentwillbeaconstantforVDS> VDS(sat).TheregionoftheIDversusVDScharacteristicisreferredtoasthe saturationregion.

ifVGSincreases,theinitialslopeofID versusVDSincreases. fromEquation(10.43b)thatthevalueof VDS(sat)isafunctionofVGS.

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 depletionmode,thecurrentvoltagecharacteristicsareexactlythe sameaswehavediscussed,exceptthatVTisanegativequantity. anegativegatevoltagewillinduceaspacechargeregionunderthe oxide,reducingthethicknessofthenchannelregion. Apositivegatevoltagewillcreateanelectronaccumulationlayer,which increasesthedraincurrent. Onebasicrequirementforthisdeviceisthatthechannelthicknesstc mustbelessthanthemaximuminducedspacechargewidthinorderto beabletoturnthedeviceoff. 38

Theoperationofapchanneldeviceisthesameasthatofthenchannel device,exceptthechargecarrieristheholeandtheconventionalcurrent directionandvoltagepolaritiesarereversed.

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*10.3.3CurrentVoltageRelationshipMathematicalDerivation Inthisanalysis,wemakethefollowingassumptions: 1.Thecurrentinthechannelisduetodrift ratherthandiffusion. 2.Thereisnocurrentthroughthegateoxide. 3.AgradualchannelapproximationisusedinwhichEy/y >Ex/x.This approximationmeansthatExisessentiallyaconstant. 4.Anyfixedoxidechargeisanequivalentchargedensityattheoxide semiconductorinterface. 5.Thecarriermobilityinthechannelisconstant.

= enn(y), Qn istheinversionlayer chargeperunitareaandisanegative quantity

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conceptofchargeneutrality,

Theinversionlayerchargeand inducedspacechargearenegativefor thisnchanneldevice.

thecontributionsofsurfaces1and2cancel eachother.Surface3isintheneutralp region,sotheelectricfieldiszeroatthis surface.

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needanexpressionforEox.

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forverysmallVDS

Astraightlineisfittedthroughthepoints.Thedeviationfromthe straightlineatlowvaluesofVGSisduetosubthreshold conductionand thedeviationathighervaluesofVGSisduetomobilitybeingafunction ofgatevoltage.

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pchannelenhancementmodeMOSFET. Thevoltagepolaritiesandcurrent directionarethereverseofthoseinthe nchanneldevice.

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10.3.4Transconductance

Thetransconductance increasesasthewidthofthedeviceincreases,andit alsoincreasesasthechannellengthandoxidethick nessdecrease. 10.3.5SubstrateBiasEffects(Bodyeffects) thesourceandbodymaynotbeatthesamepotential. Thesourcetosubstratepn junctionmustalwaysbezeroorreverse biased,soVSBmustalwaysbegreaterthanorequaltozero.

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theseelectronsareatahigherpotentialenergythanaretheelectrons inthesource. Thenewlycreatedelectronswillmovelaterallyandflowoutofthe sourceterminal. Whens =2fp+VSB,thesurfacereachesanequilibriuminversion condition,asshowninFigure10.50c. ThecurverepresentedasEFn istheFermilevelfromthep substrate throughthereversebiasedsourcesubstratejunctiontothesource contact.
ThespacechargeregionwidthundertheoxideincreasesfromtheoriginalxdT valuewhenaVSB>0isapplied.
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Figure10.51showsplotsofVID(sat)versus VGSforvariousappliedvaluesofVSB.The originalthresholdvoltageisassumedtobe VTO=0.64V.

10.4|FREQUENCYLIMITATIONS

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Oneparameter,rds,showninFigure10.53,isnotshowninFigure10.52. ThisresistanceisassociatedwiththeslopeIDversusVDS.

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10.4.2FrequencyLimitationFactorsandCutoffFrequency Thefirstfactoristhechanneltransittime.Thetransittimeofcarriers throughthechannelisusuallynotthelimitingfactor. Thesecondlimitingfactoristhegateorcapacitancechargingtime.

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ThecutofffrequencyfT isdefinedtobethefrequencyatwhichthe magnitudeofthecurrentgainofthedeviceisunity,orwhenthe magnitudeoftheinputcurrentIiisequaltotheidealloadcurrentId.

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Intheideal MOSFET,theoverlaporparasiticcapacitances,Cgsp andCgdp, arezero.Also,whenthetransistorisbiasedinthesaturationregion,Cgd approacheszeroandCgs isapproximatelyCoxWL.

*10.5|THECMOSTECHNOLOGY
Inmostcases,theptypesubstratedopinglevelmustbelargerthanthen typesubstratedopingleveltoobtainthedesiredthresholdvoltages. Thelargerpdopingcaneasilycompensatetheinitialndopingtoformthe pwell.
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ThenotationFOXstandsforfieldoxide,whichisarelativelythickoxide separatingthedevices. TheFOXpreventseitherthenorpsubstratefrombecominginvertedand helpsmaintainisolationbetweenthetwodevices.

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OnemajorprobleminCMOScircuitshasbeenlatchup. Latchupreferstoahighcurrent,lowvoltageconditionthatmayoccurina fourlayerpnpn structure.

undercertainconditions,avalanchebreakdownmayoccurinthepwellto n substratejunction,drivingbothbipolartransistorsintosaturation. Thishighcurrent,lowvoltageconditionlatchupcansustainitselfby positive feedback.

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Latchupcanbepreventedifthe productnpislessthanunityatall times,wherenandparethe commonemittercurrentgainsofthe npn andpnp parasiticbipolar transistors

Onemethodofpreventinglatchupistokilltheminoritycarrierlifetime. Minoritycarrierlifetimedegradationcanbeaccomplishedbygolddoping orneutronirradiation. Asecondmethodofpreventinglatchupisbyusingpropercircuitlayout techniques.Thetwoparasiticbipolartransistorscanalsobedecoupled by usingadifferentfabricationtechnology,thesilicononinsulator technology.

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