Advanced

Semiconductor
Devices

Lecture 8
 Lecture outline

Review

Three-terminal MOS structure

Quasi-Fermi potential

Regions of operation

Accurate modeling of three-terminal MOS capacitor

Surface potential

Inversion charge

“Pinchoff” voltage

MOSFET transistor

Charge-sheet model

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Three-terminal MOS structure

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Three-terminal MOS structure –
energy bands

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Three-terminal MOS structure - charges

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Three-terminal MOS structure – regions
of operation

Depletion:

Weak inversion:

Moderate and strong inversion:

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 Three-terminal MOS structure –
basic equations in depletion and inversion

From charge and potential balance

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 Three-terminal MOS structure –
basic equations in depletion and inversion

Define

Then

Depletion weak inversion:

Moderate and strong inversion:

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Surface potential in moderate and strong
inversion

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Approximation for surface potential in
moderate and strong inversion

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Approximation for MOS capacitance in
moderate and strong inversion

MOS capacitance in general

MOS capacitance in moderate and strong inversion

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 Depletion

Condition for depletion

Can neglect inversion charge!!!

Approximation for gate voltage in depletion

(similar to two-terminal MOS structure)

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MOS Capacitor in depletion

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 Weak inversion
Weak inversion is defined as

Consequently

Need to pay attention to terms of the order of

Note that inversion charge contribution is mostly important

on the border with moderate inversion

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On the border of moderate inversion

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 Charges in depletion and weak
inversion

Obtained approximation where the first term is the regular

contribution of the depletion charge while the second term
is due to the inversion charge on the border of moderate
inversion

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 Surface potential
in depletion and weak inversion
Approximating for gate voltage for small

Re-arranging

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MOS capacitance in depletion and
weak inversion
Depletion and linear approximations of the surface potential

Linear approximation

Depletion approximation

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 MOS Capacitor in depletion and
weak inversion
Need to account for both depletion charge and inversion
charge in weak inversion

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MOS capacitance in depletion and
weak inversion
Using approximations for the surface potential

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MOS capacitance in all regions of
operation
Depletion and weak inversion

Moderate and strong inversion

The model is fully analytic with explicit dependence on applied

voltages

The model is physics based, all parameters have physical

meaning and can be determined from experimental MOS capacitor
measurements
© V. Ariel 2013 Advanced Semiconductor Devices Lecture 8
MOS capacitance in depletion and
weak inversion
The new approximation of MOS capacitor is accurate!!!

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MOS capacitance at different VCB
terminal biases

VCB = 1V

VCB = 0.5V

VCB = 0V

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MOS surface potential in all regions
of operation
Depletion and weak inversion

Moderate and strong inversion

The model is fully analytic with explicit dependence on applied

voltages

The model is physics based and accurate since surface potential

is an integral function of MOS capacitance

© V. Ariel 2013 Advanced Semiconductor Devices Lecture 8

Surface potential at different VCB
terminal biases
VCB = 1V

VCB = 0.5V

VCB = 0V

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Semiconductor charges in all
regions of operation

Since we have a model of surface potential in all regions of

operation, we can easily calculate semiconductor charges

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Inversion charge at different VCB
terminal biases

VCB = 0V

VCB = 0.5V

VCB = 1V

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 “Body” effect

Increasing bulk potential reduces inversion charge

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 “Pinchoff ” voltage

Inversion disappears for large VCB

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Long-channel MOS transistor (MOSFET)

Assume large L and W

Also assume IG = 0 and IB = 0

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 MOSFET regions of inversion

Regions of inversion are determined by the most heavily

inverted terminal (usually source)

Depletion weak inversion:

Moderate and strong inversion:

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 MOSFET regions of inversion
Drain current in different regions of inversion

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 Body reference

All voltages measured with respect to bulk

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 Source reference

All voltages measured with respect to source terminal

Convenient because measure drain voltage vs source voltage

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Basic equations along MOSFET channel

All equations depend on the gate voltage, channel voltage,

and surface potential
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Surface potential along MOSFET channel

Depletion and weak inversion

Moderate and strong inversion

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Basic assumptions for current calculation

DC operation

Horizontal electric field is much smaller than the vertical

electric field “Gradual channel approximation”

Channel length is much larger than pn-junction depeletion

regions around source and drain

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 Charge-sheet model

Inversion layer charge is approximated as a layer of charge

of zero thickness at semiconductor surface

Current consists of drift and diffusion components

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Charge-sheet model: basics

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Charge-sheet model: constant mobility

Assume that mobility is constant along the channel (???)

Use

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 Charge-sheet model: current

Performing integration

Can solve iteratively for voltages and potentials using

Surface potential based CAD model such as HiSIM

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 Charge-sheet model comparison

Lines: charge-sheet model

Dots: full semiconductor equation solution

We have an approximate analytical model of surface potential

which should lead to similar accuracy as charge-sheet model

© V. Ariel 2013 Advanced Semiconductor Devices Lecture 8