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Tutorial 7. Derek Wright Monday, March 7 th , 2005. Silicon MOSFETs. Introduction MOS Capacitors MOSFET Structure MOSFET Scaling Gate Dielectrics Gates Junctions and Contacts Alternate MOSFET Structures. Introduction. MOSFETs are a kind of Field Effect Transistor used in digital ICs
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Tutorial 7 Derek Wright Monday, March 7th, 2005
Silicon MOSFETs • Introduction • MOS Capacitors • MOSFET Structure • MOSFET Scaling • Gate Dielectrics • Gates • Junctions and Contacts • Alternate MOSFET Structures
Introduction • MOSFETs are a kind of Field Effect Transistor used in digital ICs • Use a FET because gate voltage uses less current than BJT’s base current • BJT was developed first, and FET was theorized, but impractical • Couldn’t make the Field Effect work due to technology constraints at the time
MOS Capacitor • It’s important to understand how a MOS capacitor works: • Capacitance is a limiting factor in IC performance • Mobile charges in gate • Mobile charges in channel (between drain and source) • Separated by dielectric (gate oxide) = capacitor
MOS Capacitor • http://jas.eng.buffalo.edu/education/mos/mosCap/biasBand10.html • Shows how a depletion layer forms • The blue charge is what lets current go from source to drain • Other good applets on the site
MOS Capacitor • Capacitance changes with applied voltage • Leads to complicated CMOS simulations • Can be exploited in some kinds of VCOs (MOS Varactor)
MOSFET Structure • We use a MOS capacitor in inversion mode • The minority carriers form the “channel” • Ions are implanted on either side of the gate to act as sources of carriers • Contacts are put on the diffusions to form the source and drain • Carriers go from the source to the drain
MOSFET Scaling • Reducing the size of MOSFETs in ICs has many benefits: • Higher density • Higher speed • Lower Power • It also introduces many problems: • Thin gate oxides • Short channel effects • Higher leakage current
Gate Dielectrics • Gate thickness scales by 1/ with decreasing device dimensions • We’re fast approaching the practical limit of how thin SiO2 gates can get • Tunneling can occur causing gate leakage • Other problems like hot carriers start to become problematic
Gate Dielectrics • We can use a thicker dielectric if it has a higher r • These “high-k” dielectrics mean that a given gate voltage will produce a higher E-field • Or, a given gate voltage will produce the same E-field with a thicker dielectric layer
Gate Dielectrics • Problems with a thin gate: • Oxide thickness variation • Impurities from poly gate (particularly B) • Reliability and lifetime problems • High gate current • Gate leakage current (VG = 1V): • 1pA/cm2 at 3.5 nm • 10A/cm2 at 1.5 nm
Gate Dielectrics • Solutions to gate problems: • Add nitrogen to SiO2 • Use high-k dielectrics • High-k dielectrics must meet a number of criteria • Must be thermally stable • Good electronic properties • Microstructural stability • Deposition tools and chemistry • Process compatibility
Gates • Poly-silicon is used for gates because: • Adjustable work function through doping • Process compatibility • Drawbacks include: • It’s a semiconductor, so it forms a depletion layer which adds to the EOT (effective oxide thickness) • High resistivity • Metal is considered as the successor to poly-silicon gates
Junctions and Contacts • Other resistances must be less than 10% of the channel resistance (Rchan) • Rchan = [(W/L) (ox/tox (VG – VT)]-1 • L Rchan (scaling) • Rchan (new substrates) • ox Rchan (high-k dielectrics) • tox Rchan (high-k dielectrics and scaling) • VT (VG – VT) Rchan (doping)
Junctions and Contacts • Contacts connect the metal lines to the source/drain/gate of a MOSFET • Contact resistance becomes a problem as geometries shrink • This can be partially solved by using silicides: • Silicides are metal/silicon alloys with a low resistance
Junctions and Contacts • Formation of self-aligned silicides (salicides) • Metal is deposited over entire wafer • Reacts with exposed silicon • Unreacted metal is selectively etched off
Alternate MOSFET Structures • Silicon On Insulator (SOI) wafers eliminate capacitive coupling to the substrate • An oxide layer is buried below the transistors, eliminating coupling to the substrate • SOI: • reduces leakage • reduces capacitance • higher speed • less susceptible to soft errors
Alternate MOSFET Structures • New technologies for coming years: • High-k gate dielectrics • Low-k Dielectrics • Metal gate electrodes • SOI • Strained silicon • Vertical multi-gate structures
Thank You! • This presentation will be available on the web.