IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. ED-28, NO.

5 , MAY 1981 523

Analysis and Modeling of Dual-Gate MOSFETs
Abstract-Dual-gate MOS transistors (both as discrete devices and as
circuit elements) are extremely attractive for a variety of applications
where electronic gain control capability, low feedback parameters, low
noise and cross modulation, reduced short-channel effects, or high
breakdown voltage are required. In this paper, the operation and physi-
cal characteristics of dualgate MOSFETs are investigated. An accurate
model is developed, which enables the simulation of behavior of the
device with respect to bias conditions, by means of a simple iterative
algorithm. Using this model, the static characteristics are analyzed in
detail, special emphasis being directed toward the properties of the
drain conductance and transconductances in the various operational
modes. Second-order effects, not taken into account in the model, are
discussed. The boundaries of the operating regions also are calculated
by means of simple analytic models. Extensive experimental verifica-
tion is made through measurements conducted on various dual-gate
transistor structures fabricated by a shadowed-gap/lift-off process.
T
I. INTRODUCTION
HE INTEGRATED cascode arrangement of two MOS
transistors-the MOS tetrode [I ] -is widely used in appli-
cations requiring low Miller feedback capacitance, or electronic
gain control capability. The low noise and reduced cross-
modulation characteristics also are used to advantage in VHF
and UHF applications [2], [3] ,
The dual-gate MOSFET (also referred to as inversion-charge
transistor [4] or zero-overlapping-gate MOST [5]) differs
from the cascode-type MOS tetrode in that the drain for the
first gate is actually the inversion or depletion layer under the
second gate. This direct coupling of the two transistor chan-
nels, resulting from the elimination of the intermediate dif-
fused island, leads to many advantages for dual-gate devices
over conventional tetrode structures. First, there is obviously
a reduction of device area [6] . Second, the Miller capacitance
and output conductance are further reduced, making the dual-
gate MOSFET a useful device for analog integrated circuits
[7] , [SI . The reduced feedback and the resulting increase in
power gain and stability, in conjunction with the increased
functional capabilities stemming from the presence of two
independent control gates [9] , are the major beneflts of dual-
gate MOS transistors used in integrated circuits. Third, by
proper design, the breakdown voltage can be made very
high [l o] . Fourth, short-channel effects are considerably
diminished [ 1 I ] .
Since the dual-gate MOSFET has no intermediate island,
proper coupling of the two channels can be achieved only if
Manuscript received August 25, 1980; revised December 1, 1980.
The author is with the R&D Center for Semiconductors, Str. Erou
Iancu Nicolae 32 B, Bucharest 72996, Romania.
vs vG1 vG2 VD
METAL 7 P
SOURCE c--, L1 L2- DRAIN
SI LI CON SUBSTRATE
Fig. 1. Cross section through the channel region of a dual-gate
MOSFET, showing devant dimensions and applied voltages. Both
channels are assumed to be pinched off. The gap size is negligibly
small.
the separation between the adjacent gates is small enough
(<1 ym). Therefore, dual-gate MOS transistors require either
overlapping gate, or other kinds of submicron-gap technologies.
This paper investigates the operation and static characteris-
tics of dual-gate MOSFETs by means of accurate device model-
ing and detailed experimental verifications.
11. OPERATION OF DUAL-GATE MOSFETs
A schematic cross section through a dual-gate MOS transistor
with coplanar gates is shown in Fig. 1. The closely spaced
electrodes can be obtained by an overlapping-gate process,
such as double-level polysilicon [4] , [l I ] , or refractory gate.
An alternative approach is a nonoverlapping submicron-gap
process, such as the shadow-etch technique [SI, [12],
which has been used to fabricate the structures considered in
this work. Devices made by this method, using aluminum,
showed typical gaps of 0.5 pm between gates G1 and G2. The
advantages of this approach compared to overlapping-gate tech-
niques are process simplicity and reduced parasitic capacitance
between the two gates. Dual-gate MOSFET integrated circuits
with gap regions about 1 cm long have been successfully fabri-
cated by this method [SI .
In order to understand the operation of the dual-gate
MOSFET, let us begin by examining the drain current charac-
teristics shown in Fig. 2. The device is a p-channel high-
threshold (about 5 V) structure and has channel lengths
L1 =16.4ym and L2 =3.3 ym. The parameter on each dia-
gram is the voltage on the first gate VGl, and the second-gate
voltage, V G ~ , is varied from 0 V to 40 \I on Fig. 2(a) through
(f). For zero second-gate bias, the region under G2 is
Although the devices used for exemplification in this work are
p-channel and all applied voltages are negative with respect to the
substrate, the negative sign has been dropped for convenience through-
out the paper. Therefore, it should be kept in mind that all voltages
and potentials represent absolute values.
0018-9383/81/0500-0523$00.75 0 1981 IEEE
524
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. ED-28, NO. 5 , MAY 1981
punched through as soon as VD exceeds about 20 V. Fig. 2(a)
clearly shows punchthrough characteristics. When VG2 in-
creases but remaining below or near threshold, the punch-
through behavior is still visible, with a corresponding reduction
of the punchthrough voltage. The transition from punch-
through to normal MOSFET behavior is further illustrated in
Fig. 3, where VG, is taken as parameter. Above threshold, an
inversion channel appears under G2. This channel may or may
not be pinched off (at the drain end), depending on the magni-
tude of the drain voltage. If VD is high enough, VG, is no
longer able to maintain inversion in the vicinity of the drain,
the channel pinches off, and the current saturates (Fig. 2(d)).
As VG2 increases, so does the channel potential under G2.
This potential acts as drain bias for the first channel (under
G 1). It follows that at higher second-gate biases the first chan-
nel pinches off too, provided VG] is not too high to force
inversion. This is evidenced in Fig. 2(e) and (f) by the very
flat saturation characteristics of the device.
Fig. 3. Drain characteristics of dualgate MOSFET of Fig. 2 with
second-gate bias voltage as parameter. V G ~ =16 V. First trace:
vG2 =0 v.
Punchthrough only occurs in short-channel (G2) devices
fabricated on highresistivity substrates. Neglecting this regime,
it follows from the previous preliminary discussion that four
BARSAN: DUAL-GATE MOSFETs
5 2 5
different operationalmodes exist for dual-gate devices, depend-
ing on the bias conditions. Labeling S (saturated) a pinched-
off channel and L (linear) a nonpinched-off channel, the four
characteristic modes are: L- S (second channel pinched off),
S-L (first channel pinched off), S-S (both pinched off), L-L
(none pinched off). The boundaries of these operating
regions can be determined from classical MOSFET theory,
assuming that the carrier mobility is constant (no velocity
saturation) and that the gradual channel approximation is
valid. Under these conditions the drain current of an MOS
transistor is
2
- -k 3 [(VD t 2 $ ~ ) ~ / ~ - (VS t 2@~) ~/ 1} (1)
where is the gain factor, V& =VG - V, is the effective gate
voltage (VFB is the flatband voltage), @F is the Fermi potential
of the substrate, and the body factor k is given by
FIRST GATE VOLTAGE, Vb , ( V )
(a)
SECOND GAT E VOL T AGE . V~2( V)
1
k =__ (2 e, 4ND) 1/ 2 @)
cox (2) Fig. 4. Operating regions of dual-gate MOSFET, for: (a) v G2 fixed and;
(b) v G1 fixed. Broken lines show the variation of the boundaries
where C,,-oxide capacitance per unit area, ND-substrate when modifying vG2 or v G1 , respectively. Device parameters
doping concentration, e,-semiconductor permittivity. are: Cox= 2.5 X 10-4 pF/pm2, N o = 15 X 1015 cm, p2/ p1 =2.2,
The corresponding drain saturation voltage is
vs=ov.
VDsat= V&- 2 @F+- k [ 1 - ( 1 +2 4kyd)]i2 .
2
The dual-gate MOSFET saturates whenever either channel
pinches off. The drain voltage corresponding to the pinch-off
condition for the second channel VDsat2 is a function of Vd2
only and is given by (3) in which V& is replaced by Vd2,
Let V, be the difference between the quasi-Fermi potentials
at the intermediate point in the channel, just under the gap
(whose width is assumed to be zero). VI can be imagined
to represent both the drain voltage for the first channel and
the source bias for the second channel. The first channel
pinches off when VI reaches a value VIsatl given by (3) in
which V& is replaced by Vdl (it is assumed that VF, is the
same for both devices). The drain voltage for which the
first channel pinches off VDsatl can then be calculated from
An even simpler model, which ignores the variation of deple-
tion charge with position, is derived in the Appendix. Note
that both models assume the output conductance in satura-
tion to be zero.
The drain saturation voltages VDsatl and V&t2 define the
characteristic operational modes of a dual-gate MOSFET, as
illustrated in Fig. 4. I n Fig. 4(a) it is visible that since the first-
gate bias voltage is only able to control the behavior of the
first channel, by varying VG alone the dual-gate MOSFET has
only two alternatives. Unlike VG 1 , the second-gate bias volt-
age is capable of controlling the behavior of both channels
and, as a result, the device can pass through three different
operating regions by varying V G 2 , as illustrated in Fig. 4(b).
An additional characteristic feature of dual-gate MOSFETs
concerns the dependence of the drain breakdown voltage on
the equationrol(VIsat1)=rD2(V;)sat1).
the applied gate biases. For thin (<15OO-A) gate oxide layers
(i.e., devices not optimized for very high breakdown voltage)
breakdown occurs at the semiconductor surface or along the
drain junction curvature. For V G ~ below 40 V, surface break-
down with multiplication of the drain current is illustrated in
Fig. 2 . The breakdown voltage decreases as the first gate
potential (and hence the drain current) increases. The depen-
dence of the breakdown voltage on the second-gate bias volt-
age is shown in Fig. 5 . The increase of the breakdown voltage
with increasing VG, can be explained by the redistribution of
the field at the drain junction, as a function of v G2 [I O],
[13] . For small and moderate VG2 values, breakdown occurs
at the surface in the vicinity of the drain junction (Fig. 5(a)).
Increasing VG2 increases the breakdown voltage since the
surface field in the depleted pinch-off region near the drain
decreases. When the second channel reaches the drain, the
breakdown process along the junction curvature dominates
over corner breakdown and the breakdown voltage increases
only slightly with V G 2 .
111. DEVICE MODEL
We shall derive in this section an accurate physical model for
the dual-gate MOSFET. Let us first consider the region under
the first gate and assume that the channel is pinched off, as
illustrated in Fig. 1. The region under consideration is essen-
tially an MOS transistor with an inverted drain. The loca-
tion of this drain is somewhere underneath the intergate gap
(which is assumed to be neglibibly small). The exact position
is determined by the two-dimensional distribution of the fring-
ing fields associated with the two gate electrodes. However,
since the surface longitudinal field directly under the gap is
very high and decreases rapidly at a very short distance from
526 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVI CES, VOL. ED-28, NO. 5, MAY 1981
n
4 VG, 2 15 v
B o
DEVICE 7 - 16
W
0 30 60 90
SECOND GATE VOLTAGE ( V )
(b)
Fig. 5. (a) ID-VD characteristics of dual-gate MOSFET with vG2 as
parameter. Vcl =40 V. (b) Measured breakdown voltage of the
same device, as a function of vG2.
this point, we can safely assume the position of the inverted
drain to be at y =L1 . The validity of this assumption can
become questionable only for very short channels (<3 pm),
or very thick gate oxide layers.
By taking the mobility dependence on the normal and longi-
tudinal fields of the form
where 4, is the surface potential, / t o the low-field surface
mobility, E, the critical field, and rC, a constant potential de-
scribing the dependence of mobility upon normal field, the
drain current of an MOS transistor with channel length L
and width W can be expressed [14] as
-u c
- --
1
2
(5)
where =Vs t 2 @F and GD =VD t 2 @IF. The short-channel
effect can be incorporated in V& in the form of a threshold re-
duction term y(VD - vs) [15], 1161, where y is a factor
depending on the channel length and junction depth.
To avoid the discontinuity which results from the definition
of the pinch-off point by a particular value of either the
normal or the longitudinal field, we consider, following
Rossel et al. [14], the pinch-off point to be defined by a
quasi-Fermi potential separation Vp and a longitudinal field
Ep , which are determined by the continuity of the longi-
tudinal field and of its derivative. Letting Zdl be the length
of the depleted region near the hwerted drain, the current
is given by
where
I Ds at l =ID(vS, VGl , Vpl ).
The effective drain potential VI can be determined from
Poissons equation
which is subject to the boundary conditions
dV
dY
v= fi, aty=L 1.
V = Vpl and - - =Epl , aty=L 1 - l d l
Solving (7) for VI yields
I n the above equations X 1 is a constant which models the
drift of carriers through the drain depletion region [14] ,
[17]. I n the case of the inverted-drain MOSFET, the car-
riers are assumed to travel at limit velocity uL within a sheet
of uniform thickness d, so that
(9)
The thickness d is expected to be much larger than the usual
thickness of an inversion layer [14] because throughout the
drain space-charge region the normal field pushes the carriers
away from the surface, so that they spread to a much larger
average depth [ 181 .
The pinch-off voltage and field can be determined by
equating the longitudinal surface field and its derivative in the
gradual channel at the pinch-off point to the corresponding
quantities in the depletion region at the same point. The re-
sults are
-1
EP1 =[
-
(1 0)
I D
BARSAN: DUAL-GATE MOSFETs 521
where ( ppl =V t 2~45~. Substitution of (10) into (1 1) yields
an equation whch can be solved for (pp 1. Consequently, Vp
and Ep can be determined as functions of VG and I D. The
depletion length l dl can now be calculated using (6) and
finally the inverted-drain voltage Vz given by (8) can be deter-
mined as a function of Vs , VG , and I D.
A similar model applies to the region under the second gate,
when the second channel is pinched off. Here VI represents
the effective voltage of the inverted source, V,, and Ep?
are the pinch-off voltage and field, respectively, and Za2 1s
the length of the depletion region extending from the pinch-
off point to the metallurgical drain. The set of equations dis-
cussed above, with the exception of (9), also applies to this
region, provided subscript 1 is replaced by 2 and Vz is substi-
tuted for Vs. The behavior of carriers near the drainis modeled
according to the triangular hypothesis [17] , i.e., carriers are
assumed to spread over a depth ranging from d at the pinch-
off point, to X i at the drain. As a consequence, the factor
multiplying the current in Poissons equation is given in this
region by the expression
p?
Using the procedure previously described with regard to the
first channel, the drain voltage can be calculated as a function
of V,, V G 2 , and ID, where VI is itself a function of Vs, VG 1,
and I D. This means that the drain voltage VD can be deter-
mined for given drain current and source and gates biases.
When one of the two channels is below pinch off, ( 5 ) in which
the proper voltages are included, directly yields the relation-
ship between drain voltage (V, or VD) and current.
The model discussed above gives the drain voltage as a func-
tion of current. However, in order to be useful for calculating
static characteristics, as well as incremental device parameters,
the mathematical algorithm must yield the drain current as a
function of applied voltages. Consequently, an iterative pro-
cedure is needed.
For given terminal voltages, an initial estimate of the drain
current is calculated (e.g., using the simple analysis given in
the Appendix). Using this value, the drain voltage is calculated
with the aid of the model described and then compared with
the specified value V . If the. computed value is less than VD
the current is increased and if it exceeds VD the current is
reduced. The new ID value is again used to compute the drain
voltage and the process continues until the desired accuracy
for the drain voltage is reached in this work). The
amount by which I D is modified at each iteration step is
halved each time the difference between the computed drain
voltage and VD changes sign. Within any iteration step each
channel is first assumed to be pinched off and the depletion
length is calculated. If the depletion length is less than or
equal to zero, the channel in question at that particular itera-
tion step is not pinched off and ( 5) is solved directly for the
drain voltage.
An alternative to the approach presented here would be to
separately solve for I D the systems of equations of the regions
TABLE I
CHANNEL DIMENSIONS OF DUAL-GATE MOSFETs USED JN EXPERIMENTS
J * l
16-7 3-16
16-3,
7-4 4-7 7-16 Device 3-16
16-3,
7-4 4-7 7-16 16-7
L1 (pm)
3.3 1 6 . 4 7 . 4 4.5 7 . 4 1 6 . 4
L2 (p) 1 6 . 4 3.3 4. 5 7 . 4 1 6 . 4 7 . 4
W (pm) 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7
L2 (p) 1 6 . 4 3.3 4. 5 7 . 4 1 6 . 4 7 . 4
W (pm) 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7 6 2 . 7
under the two gates, using iterated values for the internal volt-
age &. Each system would then yield a different current value
and the process would be stopped when the difference be-
tween the two currents were within the desired accuracy. This
procedure is less suitable because at each iteration step it re-
quires the solution of up to two different systems of nonlinear
equations in I D (when both channels are pinched off), i.e.,
additional internal iteration cycles. The approach used here
only requires the solution of one nonlinear equation for
each channel.
The mobility parameters po and 11/ can be determined as for
single-gate MOS transistors [19], by connecting together the
gates of dual-gate devices. The parameter d was determined by
a best fitting procedure applied to the drain current character-
istics of the dual-gate MOSFETs. The values of the model
parameters used in this work (p-channel devices) are: po =200
cm2/V s, $ =34 V, E, =10 V/pm, uL =6.5 X lo4 m/s, and
d =4500 A.
Iv. RESULTS OF ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTS
Several dual-gate MOSFETs were built on the same chip in
order to investigate the device characteristics of a variety of
structures. The channel dimensions (after processing) of the
transistors referred to in this work are given in Table I ~ together
with the oxide thickness, junction depth, and substrate doping
concentration. The devices are labeled according to the
lengths of their channels, the two numbers representing the
rounded values of L l and Lz , respectively.
The measuring setup consisted of a wafer prober, a desk-top
calculator-monitored measuring and data acquisition system, a
plotter, and a printer. To avoid negative resistance effects due
to local channel heating [8], after each measurement the
structure under test was allowed to cool for a time period
equal to the time during which data acquisition was made
(typically 10 ms) plus a relaxation time proportional to the
ID VD product. All measurements reported in this study were
performed with source and substrate grounded.
Fig. 6 shows the ID(VD) characteristics of a dual-gate
MOSFET with VG2 fixed. The boundaries between opera-
tional modes, as indicated by computer calculations, are
superimposed as brokenlines. Note the qualitative resemblence
between these boundaries and those of Fig. 4(a), when the I D
axis is taken as the VG axis.
Having gained confidence in the accuracy of the theoretical
model from the excellent agreement between calculated and
measured drain current characteristics, we can now use the
528 I EEE TRANSACTI ONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. ED-28, NO. 5 , MAY 1981
DEVICE 16-7
2 1 2
- ~ L - L L - s
E
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 3 5 LO L 5 50
DRAI N VOLTAGE , Vo ( V )
Fig. 6. Measured (full lines) and calculated (circles) ID-VD character-
istics of device 16-7.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
DRAI N VOL TAGE , VD ( V I
(a)
DRAI N VOL TAGE Vg ( V)
(b)
Fig. 7. (a) Internal voltage VI versus drain voltage. (b) Depletion
lengths Id1 (solid lines) and 1d2 (broken lines), versus drain voltage,
for device 16-7.
model to analyze the internal parameters. The calculated
inverted drain voltage and depletion lengths are plotted in
Fig. 7 as functions of VD. For small VD neither channel is
pinched off. By increasing VD, channel 1 pinches off first;
the smaller VG,, the sooner. l dl increases now with increas-
ing VD up to the point when the second channel pinches off
too. From then on the drain terminal loses control upon VI,
so that both 6 and saturate. In this region (s-S) almost
Fig. 8. Measured (full lines) and calculated (circles) ZD-VG~
istics of device 16-7.
SECOND GATE VOLTAGE, V G ~ ( V )
(a)
VD 30V
v, , 510 v
character-
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
SECOND GATE VOLTAGE, VG,(V)
cb)
Fig. 9. (a) Internal voltage VI versus V G ~ . (b) Depletion lengths ldl
(solid lines) and l d2 (broken lines), versus V G ~ , for device 16-7.
the entire excess drain voltage is taken over by the space-
charge region adjacent to the drain junction.
Comparison between theory and experiment is further
illustrated in Fig. 8, concerning the I D ( V ~ ~ ) characteristics.
The boundaries of the operating regions are, here too, super-
imposed. Note that when the first channel pinches off, the
second-gate voltage no longer affects the current which is
controlled in this case by the first gate alone. The dependence
of the internal voltage and of the depletion lengths on the
second-gate bias voltage is shown inFig. 9. As VG, increases,
BARSAN: DUAL-GATE MOSFETS
529
TABLE I1
DEPENDENCE OF PINCH-OFF VOLTAGES AND FIELDS ON GATE BIASES
I
vG1=l ov
VG2=30V
2. 22
19. 77
0. 906
0. 951
i
28.96 18. 69 27. 83
0. 929 3. 525 3. 637
0. 986 3. 202 3. 345
the first channel pinches off and the dual-gate MOSFET passes
from the L-S region to theS-S region. The fact that VG, acts
(through Vj ) as drain bias for the first channel is clearly visible
in Fig. 9(a). The length of the intermediate depletion region
l dl increases with increasing VG,, whereas l d2 decreases
much like in a single-gate device. When the second channel
reaches the drain junction, the influence of the second gate is
considerably diminished while the drain takes over control of
the internal voltage.
With regard to the pinch-off potentials and fields, the effects
of the gate voltages are disclosed in Table 11, for V, =30 V.
I t is visible that Vpl and Epl are only slightly affected by VG,
and similarly Vp2 is only slightly influenced by VG 1 . Both
Vpl and Ep increase with increasing VG,. An unexpected
behavior is exhibited by Ep2 which depends only slightly on
VG, and instead is considerably affected by VG 1 . This can be
explained by observing in Fig. 8 that in the S-S mode the cur-
rent is practically controlled by VGl only and an increase of
the current results in an increase of the pinch-off field (pro-
vided the pinch-off potential does not change significantly), as
indicated by (10). It is also worth noting in Table I1 that the
pinch-off fields show values appreciably lower than the critical
field (10 V/pm).
v. OUTPUT CONDUCTANCE
For many analog applications (of both discrete devices and
integrated circuits) using dual-gate MOSFETs, the drain con-
ductance gds is a major consideration. This parameter clearly
reveals the operational features of dual-gate transistors. The
ID(V) characteristics in Fig. lO(a) visibly show a breakpoint
in the saturation region. The abrupt decrease of gd, beyond a
certain drain voltage value also is evidenced by the theoretical
plots in Fig. 1O(b). The three distinct operating regions dis-
cussed with reference to Figs. 4 and 7 can now readily be
recognized. For small drain voltages both channels operate in
the linear region and g,, is very large. By increasing V,, the
device enters the S-L region where gds is much smaller.
Further increase of V forces the transistor into the S-S
region where gds is dramatically reduced because the drain is
very effectively isolated from the source. When only the first
channel is pinched off, gds has a larger value since the charge
control from the drain side, through the second channel, is
still active. Also note in Fig. 10(b) that gds is weakly depen-
dent on V G ~ when both channels are pinched off, whereas
-
0
t: 20
VG2 =40 v
W
z
v 1 5
u 10
n
z
z
B O 15
30 45
DRAI N VOL TAGE, VD ( V )
@)
Fig. 10. (a) Drain characteristics of dual-gateMOSFET for VGZ =40 V.
First trace: V G ~ =8 V. (b) Calculated output conductance of the
same device, as a function of drain voltage.
7 1 V D = 2 5 V
DEVI CE 7-4
E,
- A S- S
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
SECOND GA T E VOL T A GE, VGZ ( V)
Fig. 11. Measured (full lines) and calculated (symbols) output conduc-
tance, as a function of second-gate bias voltage.
V,, has an appreciable effect when only the first channel is
pinched off and VG, controls the single space-charge region
laying between source and drain.
Similar considerations make possible the interpretation of
the dependence of gds on V G ~ , which is illustrated in Fig. 11.
Also referring to Figs. 4(b) and 9, for small second-gate volt-
ages, gds increases with increasing VG, since only the second
channel is pinched off. This behavior is similar to that of a
normal MOSFET. After entering the S-S operational mode,gd,
decreases with increasing VG,. This is a result of the drain-
voltage effect of VG, on the region under the first gate.
Once the second channel has reached the drain junction, gd,
5 30 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. ED-28, NO..5, MAY 1981
I I 1
I DEVICE 1 6 - 7 / O I
0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40
V(j 2 ( V )
(a) (c)
5
5 I
DEVICE 16 - 7
DEVICE 3- 16
-
cn
0
0
vo = 4 5 v
10 20 30 40
0 10 20 30 40
VG2 ( V ) VGZ ( v)
@) ( 4
Fig. 12. Measured (full lines) and calculated (circles) output conduc-
tance versus secondgate bias voltage. The broken lines in Fig. 12(a)
and (b) show the saturation drain conductance of the corresponding
normal MOSFET (the two gates connected together).
again increases with VG, since the effectiveness of the feed-
back from the drain increases. This mechanism now dominates
over the drain-voltage effect of VG2 (i.e., VI is controlled
by VD rather than by VG2).
Fig. 12 shows the saturation output conductance of two
dual-gate MOSFETs, for two different drain voltages in each
case. The plots in Fig. I2(a) can be interpreted in the light of
the previous considerations: by increasing VGZ the device
crosses three different operating regions. The higher VG 1, the
higher the VG2 value for which the first channel pinches off
too. As a consequence, the peak of gds moves toward higher
VG2 values when V G ~ increases. If VG is very large the first
channel does not pinch off at all. In Fig. 12(b) the behavior of
gds for a higher drain voltage is presented. In this case, the
VG2 bias required to bring the second channel in the linear
region is very high so that the convergence of thegds plots in
the S-S mode can be observed. The output resistance in this
region, for sufficiently high VG,, shows values in excess of
10 Ma.
In the same range of applied voltages, the output conduc-
tance of a device with a first channel 3.3 pm long, is shown in
Fig. 12(c) and (d). Because the second gate is much longer
than the first, gds of the dual-gate transistor, for moderate
VD values (L-S region), is practically given by the second-
channel length modulation. It increases thus rapidly with
increasing VG,, exactly like for anormal MOSFET (Fig. 12(c)).
Only if V, is large enough (Fig. 12(d)), does gas show a de-
creasing region (5-S mode) for low V G ~ and a rapidly increas-
ing region (L-L mode) for higher VG 1 .
The dependence of gds on the first-gate bias voltage can be
assessed from the plots in Fig. 13. For a device with com-
parable channel lengths (Fig. 13(a)),gds increases rapidly with
increasing VGl for large VG2 (S-L and L-L modes) and grad-
ually levels off for low VG2 values (S-S and L-S modes). The
very weak dependence of gds on V, in the L-S region is
evident in the case of a device with G2 much longer than GI
(Fig. 13(b)).
VI. TRANSCONDUCTANCES
Two transconductances can be defined for a dual-gate
MOSFET: one,gml ,withrespect tothe first gate, and another,
gmz, with respect to the second gate.
The dependence of gml on the applied gate voltages is
shown in Fig. 14. This transconductance is of interest in the
majority of gain control applications. gml decreases with in-
creasing VGl when the device operates in the L-S mode
(Fig. 4(a)) and the current is mainly controlled by the second
channel. This is more evident in the case of a device with
G2 much longer than G 1 (Fig. 14(c)), whose gml shows a
very sharp peak and then rapidly falls to very small values.
However, for very large VG 1, gml starts increasing again
slightly, a fact not predicted by the theoretical model. This
effect is due to a small excess current showing up at high first-
gate bias voltages. The slight increase of the current with in-
BARSAN: DUAL-GATE MOSFET's
531
0 10 20 30 40 50
F I RS T GATE VOLTAGE , vG1 ( v )
2 1 0 I
5 DEVICE 3- 16
1
0 10 20 30 40 50
FI RST GATE VOLTAGE, V G ~ ( V I
(a) (b)
Fig. 13. Output conductance as a function of fust-gate bias, for two
different dual-gate MOSFET's. Solid lines represent measurements
and circles show calculated values. Broken lines correspond to the
normal MOSFET connection.
I DEVI CE 1 6 - 3
0
-e
5.
- 100
-
rn
E
50
0
- 150
0
c
E,
- 1oc
-
P,
E
50
0
DEVI CE 16-3
I
0 10 20 30 40
200
150
-
-
0
c
5 100
-
E
-
E
0
50
-
0
200
150
-
0
c
E
.3100
-
CII
E
50
0
Fig. 14. Transconductance with respect to the first gate, as a func-
tion of gate biases, for two different (complementary with respect to
channel lengths) dual-gate transistors. Full lines show experimental
results and circles represent theoretical values.
creasing V,, , for large VG values, could be explained by the
extension of the first channel under the second gate. This
results in a reduction of the effective length of the second
channel which is the one controlling the current.
The second-gate voltage modifies g,, only when the second
channel is pinched off (Fig. 14(b)). The point when gml
saturates, approximately corresponds to the second channel
reaching the drain. In the case of a dual-gate device with a
much shorter first channel, the drain current is controlled by
VG, up to much higher values (Fig. 14(d)).
From the plots in Fig. 14 it can be concluded that gain (gml)
control can bemost effectively achieved via Vcl (in the down-
ward going region of g,,-Fig. 14 (a)) for a device with
L z <L1, and via VG, (in the upward going region-Fig. 14(d))
for the case when L <L 2 . If gain linearity is a major require-
ment [9] , electronic control viaG2 is best suited.
532 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. ED-28, NO. 5, MAY 1981
200 200
DEVICE 16- 3
DEVICE 3 -16
150
-
0
c
- 100
-
5
N
E
0
50
-
0 -
0
vg = 35 v &
200 20 0 I
DEVI CE 16-3
DEVICE 3 - 16
150 -
x
5
I
100 -
N
E
0
50
-
vg = 35 v
0 10 20 30 40 0 10 20 30 40
VG2 ( v) vG2 (v)
(b) ( 4
Fig. 15. Measured (full lines) and calculated (circles) gm2 as a function
of applied gate voltages, for the same two devices as in Fig. 14.
Experimental and calculated results for the transconductance
with respect to the second gate are included in Fig. 15. The
poor agreement between calculated and measured gp,2(vG2)
for low V,, values in Fig. 15(b) comes from the contribution
of the punch-through current, not included in the theoretical
model. I n Fig. 15(d) an increase of the transconductance for
high gate biases, similar to that discussed with reference to
Fig. 14(c), also is visible. In this case it is the second channel
which extends slightly under the first gate.
A general conclusion with regard to the results of Figs. 14
and 15 is that the transconductances either exhibit a peak and
then decrease, or level off beyond some particular gate voltage
value. To first order, even the oversimplified analysis given in
the Appendix is sufficient for a qualitative description. From
this model, as soon as the first channel pinches off gml be-
comes roughly proportional to V, l (independent of VG2) and
g,2 is zero. Thus gml and gm2 (VG2) show a rise-and-
fall behavior (going toward a small value corresponding to the
L-S mode, or zero, respectively), whereas gml(VGz) and
gm2( V, 1) exhibit (eventually) saturated characteristics.
VII. CONCLUDING REMARKS
The static characteristics of dual-gate MOS transistors have
been investigated, both experimentally and theoretically. The
physical model for a pinched-off channel takes into account
the inverted channel region, in which the gradual approxima-
tion is assumed to be valid, and a drain depletion region, in
which Poissons equation has to be solved. A triangular cur-
rent flow model is used for the depletion region near the
diffused drain, whereas in the inverted-drain space-charge
region the carriers are assumed to drift within a layer of uni-
form thickness. Mobility reduction due to both the transversal
and longitudinal fields is considered. The models correspond-
ing to the two channels are coupled by means of the inverted-
drain surface potential. An iterative algorithm is used to
compute the drain current for a given set of applied voltages.
The accuracy of the model has been tested on a variety of
structures and was found excellent. Consequently, a reliable
investigation of the internal parameters, such as depletion
lengths and pinch-off potentials and fields, has been possible.
Although short-channel effects have been taken into account
in the model, it was found that for the devices which were
evaluated (with one channel as short as 3.3 pm) the short-
channel threshold effect is negligible (y =0). Short-channel
effects can, however, be important in devices with both
channels significantly scaled down. In this case, punch-
through currents, as well as fringing-field effects in the gap
region, also must be considered.
The characteristic operational modes of dual-gate MOSFETs
BARSAN: DUAL-GATE MOSFETS 533
have been analyzed and used to explain the observed behavior
with respect to applied voltages. Emphasis has been placed on
the output conductance and transconductances. Several
aspects of dual-gate transistor characterization have not been
considered in the present work and are subjects for further
investigation. These include the frequency response, dynamic
parameters, and noise. Regarding dual-gate MOSFETs with
both channels shorter than 3 pm, the model developed in this
study can be extended to include two-dimensional field effects
in the transition region between channels, as well as sub-
threshold operation. Although not directly addressing the
problem of device design optimization, which is largely depen-
dent on the particular application, the present analysis can be
very effectively used to investigate the behavior of dual-
gate MOSFET devices or circuits with respect to any electrical
or geometrical design parameter,
APPENDIX
Simple Analytical Model for Dual-Gate MOSFETs
In order to obtain closed-form expressions for the drain cur-
rent in each operating region, (1) is still too complicated to be
used. Analytic solutions can only be derived ignoring the
body effect. This is a crude approximation, especially for the
second channel, but the results are useful for a qualitative
first- order description.
Using the simplified forms for the drain current of an MOS
transistor
and
below and above pinch off, respectively, the intermediate node
voltage V can be calculated by solving the equation ID =ID,.
Since the body effect is ignored, the source bias of the dual-
gate MOSFET only adds algebraically to all applied voltages
and, therefore, can be taken zero without loss of generality.
When both channels are operating in the linear region, one
finds that
- [(v, t mv2) - m(m +1 ) ( 2 ~ 2 VD - I 2 )
(-43)
where VI =VG 1 - V,, , V, =V,, - V,, , V,, and V,, being
the threshold voltages of the two channels and m =&/ &. The
saturation drain voltage for the second channel is
b s a t z =VZ (A41
and that corresponding to the saturation of the first channel
(VI= Vl ) is
For VD >V, and V, <(1 +m-I2) Vl , the second channel is
pinched off
and V, no longer depends on the applied drain voltage.
For V D ~ ~ ~ ~ <V < V, , the first channel is pinched off and
v,= V, - [(V, - V,)2 t - V f .
m 1 l P (A71
For V >V, >I1 t m-l/*) Vl , both channels operate in the
v,= V, - m-12 V, . (A8)
Substitution of V, into the proper current expression yields
saturation region and
the drain current as a function of applied voltages.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author is very much indebted to C. Bulucea for his sup-
port and stimulating suggestions. He also would like to thank
A. Delibaltov for invaluable help in device processing, T. Cglin
for assistance in the measurements, and A. Rusu, D. Cioacg,
and A. Gurau for helpful discussions.
REFERENCES
T. Okumura, The MOS tetrode, Philips Tech. Rev., vol. 30, pp.
1347141, May 1969.
R. J . Nienhuis, A MOS tetrode for the UHF band with a channel
1.5 pm long, Philips Tech. Rev., vol. 31, pp. 259-265, Aug.
1970.
F. M. Klaassen, H. J . Wilting, and W. C. J . de Groot, A UHF
MOS tetrode with polysilicon gate, Solid-state Electron., vol.
23, pp. 23-30, J an. 1980.
R. R. Troutman and H. S. Lee, Inversion charge transistor (ICT)
for better threshold control in small dimensions, IEEE J. Solid-
State Circuits, vol. SC-13, pp. 490-491, Aug. 1978.
N. Weste and J . Mavor, ZOGMOST: An improved m.0.s.t. for
c.c.d. peripheral circuits, Electron. Lett., vol. 12, pp. 591-592,
Oct. 1976.
N. H. Weste, Interactive integrated circuit design: An implemen-
tation using a monochrome and colour graphics system, Ph.D.
dissertation, Dep. of Electrical Engineering, Univ. of Adelaide,
Aug. 1977.
N. Weste and J . Mavor, MOST amplifiers for performing periph-
eral integrated-circuit functions, IEE J. Electron Circuits Sys-
tems, vol. 1, pp. 165-172, Sept. 1977.
R. M. Barsan, Dual-gate bucket-brigade devices, IEEE Trans.
Electron Devices, vol. ED-27, pp. 1809-1816, Sept. 1980.
S. H. Kwan, C. T. Chuang, R. S. Muller, and R. M. White, Dual-
gate depletion-mode DMOS transistor for linear gain-control
applications, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, vol. ED-26, pp.
1053-1058, J uly 1979.
H. G. Dill, A new insulated gate tetrode with high drain break-
down potential and low Miller feedback capacitance, IEEE
Trans. Electron Devices, vol. ED-15, pp. 717-728, Oct. 1968.
W. P. Noble, J r., Short-channel effects in dual-gate field-effect
transistors, presented at IEEE Int. Electron Dev. Meeting, Dig.
Tech. Papers, pp. 483-486, Dec. 1978.
5 34 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. ED-28, NO. 5 , MAY 1981
[ 121 V. A. Browne and K. D. Perkins, A non-overlapping gate charge-
coupling technology for serial memory and signal processing
applications, IEEE J. Solid-state Circuits, vol. SC-11, pp. 203-
207, Feb. 1976.
[13] H. G. Dill and T. N. Toombs, A new MNOS charge storage
effect,Solid-State Electron., vol. 12, pp. 981-987, 1969.
[14] P. Rossel, H. Martinot, and G. Vassilieff, Accurate two sections
model for MOS transistor in saturation, Solid-state Electron.,
[15] G. W. Taylor, The effects of two-dimensional charge sharing on
the above-threshold characteristics of short-channel IGFETs,
Solid-State Electron., vol. 22, pp. 701-717, 1979.
V O~. 19, pp. 51-56,1976.
[16] F. M. Klaassen and W. C. J. de Groot, Modeling of scaled-down
MOS transistors, Solid-state Electron., vol. 23, pp. 237-242,
1980.
[17] G. Merckel, J. Borel, and N. Z. Cupcea, An accuratelarge-signal
MOS transistor model for use in computer-aided design, IEEE
Trans. Electron Devices, vol. ED-19, pp. 681-690, May 1912.
[18] D. Vandorpe, J. Borel, G. Merckel, and P. Saintot, An accurate
two-dimensional numerical analysis of the MOS transistor,
Solid-state Electron., vol. 15, pp. 547-557,1972.
[ 191 P. Rossel, Influence on the characteristics of m.0.s. transistors
of the mobility reduction due to a transverse electric field, Elec-
tron. Lett., vol. 5, pp. 604-605, Nov. 1969.
Two-Dimensional Simulation of a High-Voltage
p-i -n Diode wi th Overhanging Metallization
Ahtract-A two-dimensional computer simulation of a high-voltage
p-i-n diode for a microwave phase shift network mounted in parallel
with a microstrip tine has been carried out. The electric field
distribution in four different device structures has been analyzed.
It is shown that the microstrip line which forms a metal overhang
on top of the device can reduce its breakdown voltage due to
enhanced total and normal field components at the silicon-dielectric
interface. Also, this could lead to avalanche injection of hot carriers
into the dielectric which could impair the long-term performance of
the device. A structure which should prove less prone to these adverse
effects is reported.
I
I . I NTRODUCTI ON
N THIS PAPER we consider a high-voltage p-i-n diode for
an F-band phase shifting network mounted in parallel with a
microstrip line Fig. l(a)-(d). This leads to the presence of
metal overhangs on top of the device. It has been reported
that the metal overhangs presumably have an adverse effect on
the blocking voltage of a p-i-n diode [l]. However, no de-
tailed theoretical treatment of the problem is yet available.
We have carried out a detailed two-dimensional computer
Manuscript received J uly 10, 1980; revised October 31, 1980. This
work was supported in part by research grants from the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council, Canada, and Thomson-CSF, France,
and also DALSA Inc., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, for support on the
software development.
R. Kumar and S. G. Chamberlain are with the Electrical Engineering
Department, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
N2L 3G1.
D. J. Roulston is with the Electrical Engineering Department, Uni-
versity of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1. He is now
on a one year sabbatical with the Department of Electronics, The
University of Southhampton, Southampton, England.
analysis in the presence of a reverse blocking voltage. The
following four structures have been analyzed:
a) p-i-n diode with a vertical edge, Structure #1, Fig. l(a)
b) p-i-n diode with a vertical edge and a molybdenum disk
on top of the p+ diffused layer, Structure #2, Fig. l(b)
c) p-i-n diode with a negatively beveled edge, Structure #3,
Fig. l(c)
d) p-i-n diode with a positively beveled edge, Structure #4,
Fig. l(d).
Information has been obtained on the field and potential
distribution in the above device structures. It is shown that a
high field region is developed in some cases in silicon close to
the silicon-dielectric interface, which could reduce the block-
ing voltage of the p-i-n diode in the presence of metal over-
hangs. It is further shown that there exists a significant com-
ponent of field normal to the interface. This could cause
avalanche injection of hot carriers into the dielectric 131-[ 111.
As a result, the various trapping sites in the dielectric could get
charged up. This in turn could distort the field distribution
along the interface and hence adversely affect the blocking
voltage of the diode. The bombardment of highly energetic
carriers against the interface could also create fast surface
states which would give rise to a high leakage current [7], [8].
All of these effects could result in a reduced reliability of the
device.
11. THE DEVICE MODEL
A two-dimensional computer algorithm has been developed
for a p-i-n diode with metal overhangs for the structures shown
in Fig. l(a)-(d). The program provides maps of potential and
field distribution throughout the device cross section. A
0018-9383/81/0500-0534$00.75 0 1981 IEEE