Reading: Neamen 10.1.3, 10.1.

4 pp 428-434
Required background: 6.2 Energy band diagram of an MOS capacitor
Next: 6.4 The MOS inversion layer charge

6.3.1 Workfunction difference

If there is no charge present in the oxide or at the oxide-semiconductor interface, the flat band
voltage simply equals the workfunction difference between the gate metal and the
semiconductor.
The workfunction is the voltage required to extract an electron from the fermi energy to the
vacuum level. This voltage is between 4 and 5 Volt for most metals. It should be noted that the
actual value of the workfunction of a metal deposited onto silicon dioxide is not exactly the same
as that of the metal in vacuum. The figure below provides experimental values for the
workfunction of different metals as obtained from a measurement of a MOS capacitor as a
function of the measured workfunction in vacuum.

oxphif.gif
Fig. Workfunction of metals as obtained from I-V and C-V measurements on MOS
structures as a function of the workfunction of those metals measured in vacuum. (Mg =
Magnesium, Al = Aluminum, Cu = Copper, Ag = Silver, Ni = Nickel and Au = Gold)
The workfunction of a semiconductor requires some more thought since the fermi energy varies
with the doping type as well as with the doping concentration. This workfunction equals the sum
of the electron affinity, the difference between the conduction band energy and the intrinsic
energy divided by the electronic charge and the bulk potential as expressed by the following
equation:

(mf26)
where the bulk potential is given by:

(mf27)
As can be seen from the above equations, the bulk potential is positive for p-type substrates and
negative for n-type substrates.
For MOS structures with a highly doped poly-silicon gate one must also calculate the
workfunction of the gate based on the bulk potential of the poly-silicon.

6.3.2 Flat band voltage calculation

The flat band voltage of real MOS structures is further affected by the presence of charge in the
oxide or at the oxide-semiconductor interface. The flat band voltage still corresponds to the
voltage which when applied to the gate electrode yields a flat energy band in the semiconductor.
The charge in the oxide or at the interface changes this flatband voltage. For a charge, Qi, located
at the interface between the oxide and the semiconductor, and a charge density, ox, distributed
within the oxide, the flat band voltage is given by:

(mf28a)
where the second term is the voltage across the oxide due to the charge at the oxidesemiconductor interface and the third term is due to the charge density in the oxide.
The actual calculation of the flat band voltage is further complicated by the fact that charge can
move within the oxide, while the charge at the oxide-semiconductor interface due to surface
states also depends on the position of the fermi energy.
Since any additional charge affects the flat band voltage and thereby also the threshold voltage,
great care has to be taken during fabrication to avoid the incorporation of charged ions as well as
creation of surface states.

6.2 The energy band diagram of the Metal-Oxide-Silicon

(MOS) Capacitor

Table of Contents - Glossary - Study Aids -

In this Section
1. Flat band conditions
2. Surface depletion
3. Inversion layer formation
4. Accumulation
Reading: Neamen 10.1,10.1.2 pp 419-428

Required background: Energy bands of semiconductors

Next: 6.3 Flat band voltage

6.2 Energy band diagram of an MOS capacitor

The energy band diagram contains the electron energy levels in the MOS structure
as deliniated with the fermi energy in the metal and semiconductor as well as the
conduction and valence band edge in the oxide and the silicon. A typical diagram is
shown under voltage bias in the following figure:

moseband.xls - mosinv.gif
Fig. 6.2.1 Energy band diagram of an MOS capacitor under bias

The electron energy is assumed to be zero deep into the semiconductor. The oxide
has a bandgap energy of 8 eV and the silicon has a bandgap energy of 1.12 eV. A
positive voltage of 1 Volt is applied to the aluminum gate metal. This is an active
figure. The reader is encouraged to open the corresponding spreadsheet and to vary
the bias conditions as well as the MOS parameters to get a feel for the MOS
capacitor.

We will distinguish between four modes of operation: Flat band, Depletion, Inversion and
Accumulation. Flat band conditions exist when no charge is present in the semiconductor so that
the silicon energy band is flat. Initially we will assume that this occurs at zero gate bias. Later we
will consider the actual flat band voltage in more detail. Surface depletion occurs when the holes
in the substrate are pushed away by a positive gate voltage. A more positive voltage also attracts
electrons (the minority carriers) to the surface which form the so-called inversion layer. Under
negative gate bias, one attracts holes from the p-type substrate to the surface, yielding
accumulation.

6.2.1 Flat band conditions

The flat band diagram is by far the easiest energy band diagram. The term flat band
referes to fact that the energy band diagram of the semiconductor is flat, which
implies that no charge exists in the semiconductor. An example is shown in the
figure below. This figure is obtained by applying a gate voltage of -1.09 Volt.

moseband.xls - modflat.gif
Fig. 6.2.2 Energy band diagram of an MOS capacitor under flatband
condition

The flat band voltage is obtained when the applied gate voltage equals the
workfunction difference between the gate metal and the semiconductor. However if
there is also a fixed charge in the oxide and/or at the oxide-silicon interface, the
expression for the flat band voltage must be modified accordingly.

6.2.2 Surface depletion

As a more positive voltage than the flatband voltage is applied, a negaitive charge
buids-up in the semiconductor. Initially this charge is due to the depletion of the
semiconductor starting from the oxide-semiconductor interface. The depletion layer
width further increases with increasing gate voltage. An example is shown in the
figure below.

moseband.xls - mosdep.gif
Fig. 6.2.3 Energy band diagram of an MOS capacitor in depletion mode

6.2.3 Inversion layer formation

As the potential across the semiconductor increases beyond twice the bulk
potential, another type of positive charge emerges at the oxide-semiconductor
interface: this charge is due to minority carriers which form a so-called inversion
layer. As one further increases the gate voltage the depletion layer width barely
increases further since the charge in the inversion layer increases exponentially
with the surface potential. An energy band diagram of an MOS capacitor in inversion
is shown in the figure below:

moseband.xls - mosdep.gif
Fig. 6.2.4 Energy band diagram of an MOS capacitor in inversion

6.2.4 Accumulation
Accumulation occurs when one applies a voltage which is less than the flatband
voltage. The negative charge on the gate attracts holes from the substrate to the
oxide-semiconductor interface. Only a small of band bending is needed to build up
the accumulation charge so that almost all of the potential variation is within the
oxide. A band diagram of an MOS capacitor in accumulation is shown in the figure
below:

moseband.xls - mosacc.gif
Fig. 6.2.5 Energy band diagram of an MOS capacitor in accumulation
Role in semiconductor physics: the thermal voltage

In semiconductors, the Shockley diode equationthe relationship between the flow of electric
current and the electrostatic potential across a pn junctiondepends on a characteristic voltage
called the thermal voltage, denoted VT. The thermal voltage depends on absolute temperature T
as
where q is the magnitude of the electrical charge on the electron with a value
1.602176565(35)1019 C[1] and k is the Boltzmann's constant, 1.38064852(79)1023 J/K. In
electronvolts, the Boltzmann constant is 8.6173324(78)105 eV/K,[1] making it easy to calculate
that at room temperature ( 300 K), the value of the thermal voltage is approximately
25.85 millivolts 26 mV.[3] The thermal voltage is also important in plasmas and electrolyte
solutions; in both cases it provides a measure of how much the spatial distribution of electrons or
ions is affected by a boundary held at a fixed voltage.[4]