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The Field Effect Transistor

• Analogous to BJT BJT FET

Transistors
Collector Drain
• Output is controlled by
input voltage rather Base Gate
than by current Emitter Source
• 4 Pins vs. 3 N/A Body

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• FET (Field Effect Transistors)

• MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect
Transistor)
• JFET (Junction Field-Effect Transistor)
• MESFET
• HEMT
• MODFET
• Most common are the n-channel MOSFET or JFET

MOSFETs vs BJTs
BJTs MOSFETs
• Three different currents • Mostly widely used
in the device: IC, IB and IE today
• Consume a lot of power • Low power
• Large size device • Very small device (nm)
• Simple manufacturing
process
• Only 1 current, ID

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MOS Field Effect Transistor

 In the MOSFET, the current is controlled by an electric

field applied perpendicular to both the semiconductor
surface and to the direction of current.
 The phenomenon is called the field effect.
 The basic transistor principle is that the voltage
between two terminals, provides the electric field, and
controls the current through the third terminal.

metal
oxide

substrate

Two-Terminal MOS Structure

 A MOS capacitor with a p-type

semiconductor substrate: the
top metal terminal, called the
gate, is at a negative voltage
with respect to the substrate.
 A negative charge will exist on
the top metal plate and an
electric field will be induced.

 If the electric field penetrates

the semiconductor, the holes in the p-type semiconductor
will experience a force toward the oxide-semiconductor
interface and an accumulation layer of holes will exist.

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Two-Terminal MOS Structure

 The same MOS

capacitor, but with the
polarity of the applied
voltage reversed.
 A positive charge now
exists on the top
metal plate and the induced electric field is in the opposite
direction.
 If the electric field penetrates the semiconductor, holes in
the p-type material will experience a force away from the
oxide-semiconductor interface.

Two-Terminal MOS Structure

 As the holes are pushed away
from the interface, a negative
space-charge region is created.
 This region of minority carrier
electrons is called an electron
inversion layer.
 The magnitude of the charge in
the inversion layer is a function
of the applied gate voltage,
hence the larger voltage is
applied, the wider it becomes

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n-Channel Enhancement-Mode MOSFET

● Transistor Structure
 The gate, oxide, and p-type
substrate are the same as
those of a MOS capacitor.
 There are two n-regions,
called the source and drain
terminal.
 The current in a MOSFET is
the result of the flow of charge
in the inversion layer, called A simplified cross section
the channel region, adjacent of a MOSFET with
to the oxide-semiconductor channel length L and
interface. channel width W

n-Channel Enhancement-Mode MOSFET

 If a large enough positive

voltage gate voltage is
applied, an electron
inversion layer connects
the n-source to the n-drain.
 A current can then be
generated between the
source and drain terminals.
 Since a voltage must be applied to the gate to create the inversion
charge, this transistor is called an enhancemode MOSFET.
 Since the carriers in the inversion layer are electrons, this device
is called an n-channel MOSFET (NMOS).

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Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – NMOS Device

 The threshold voltage of the

n-channel MOSFET, denoted
as VTH or VTN, is defined as the
applied gate voltage needed to
create an inversion charge.
 If the VGS < VTN, the current in
the device is essentially zero.
 If the VGS > VTN, a drain-to-
source current, ID is generated
as an induced electron
inversion layer / channel is
created

Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – NMOS Device
Direction of
Electric field

holes experience force same

direction of electric field, leaving
an electron inversion layer

 A positive drain voltage creates a reverse-biased drain-to-

substrate pn junction, depletion region width increases
 At the drain end, the inversion layer bridges the depletion region,
providing a path for the current to flow.
 So current flows through the channel region, not through a pn
junction.

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Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – NMOS Device

● The iD versus vDS characteristics for small values of vDS.

 When vGS < VTN, the drain

current is zero.
 When vGS > VTN, the
channel inversion charge is
formed and the drain
current increases with vDS.
 With a larger gate voltage,
a larger inversion charge
density is created, and the
drain current is greater for
a given value of vDS.

Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – NMOS Device

● In the basic MOS structure for

vGS > VTN with a small vDS:
 The thickness of the inversion
channel layer qualitatively
indicates the relative charge
density.
 Which for this case is
essentially constant along the
entire channel length.

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- VDS +

S - VGS + G D

-------------------------

VGS = VG – VS
VGD = VG – VD
But VGD = VGS – VDS
= VG – VS – VD +VS
So, if VDS is small, VGD VGS, we have
approximately equal distribution of channel
inversion layer

Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – NMOS Device VGD = VGS – VDS

 When the drain voltage vDS

increases, the voltage drop across
the oxide near the drain terminal
decreases – no longer uniform
distribution.
 It means that the induced inversion
charge density near the drain also
decreases.
 It causes the slope of the iD versus
vDS curve to decrease.

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As VDS increases, the channel at the drain

end reaches the pinch-off point and the
value of VDS that causes the channel to
reach this point is called saturation voltage
VDSsat

VGD = VGS – VDS sat

At the pinch off point, VGD = VTN

VGD = VGS – VDS sat
VTN = VGS – VDS sat
Hence,

VDSsat = VGS - VTN

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Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – NMOS Device
 When vDS becomes larger than vDS(sat),
the point in the channel at which the
inversion charge is just zero moves
toward the source terminal.
 In the ideal MOSFET, the drain current
is constant for vDS > vDS(sat).
 This region of the iD versus vDS
characteristic is referred to as the
saturation region.
 The electrons travel through the
channel towards the drain but then they
are swept by the electric field to the
drain contact

Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – NMOS Device

 The region for which

vDS < vDS(sat) is known
as the nonsaturation or
triode region.
 The ideal current-voltage
characteristics in this
region are described by
the equation:

, Kn = conduction parameter

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Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – NMOS Device

 In the saturation region,

the ideal current-voltage
characteristics for the
vGS > VTN are described
by the equation:

where
μn = mobility of electrons.
and
Cox = oxide capacitance
per unit area.  Can be written in the form:
where k′n = μnCox

LIST OF FORMULAS: NMOS

TRIODE OR NON-SATURATION REGION

SATURATION REGION

Where
μn = mobility of electrons and
or Cox = oxide capacitance per
unit area.

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Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – NMOS Device

Circuit Symbols and Conventions –

NMOS enhancement mode

FET is a voltage controlled device

meaning the voltage VGS
determines the current flowing, ID

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PMOS enhancement mode

● Transistor Structure
 The substrate is now n-type
and source and drain areas
are p-type.
 The channel length, channel
width, and oxide thickness
parameter definitions are the
same as those for NMOS
device.

Cross section of p-channel enhancement-mode MOSFET

● Basic MOSFET Operation

 The operation of the p-
channel device is the same
as that of the n-channel
device.
 Except the hole is the Direction
of Electric
charge carriers rather than Field
the electron.

 A negative gate bias is Electrons experience force

required to induce an opposite direction of electric
inversion layer of holes in the field, leaving a hole inversion
channel region directly under layer
the oxide.

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 The threshold voltage for

the p-channel device is
denoted as VTP.
 Since the threshold voltage
is defined as the gate
voltage required to induce
the inversion layer, VTP < 0
for the p-channel
enhancement-mode device.
 Once the inversion layer has been created, the p-type
source region is the source of the charge carrier so that
holes flow from the source to drain.

Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage Characteristics – PMOS Device

 The ideal current-voltage characteristics of the PMOS device are

essentially the same as those as the NMOS device, but the drain
current is out of the drain and vDS is replaced by vSD.
 The saturation point is given by vSD(sat) = vSG + VTP.
 For the p-channel device biased in the non-saturation (triode)
region, the current is given by:

 In the saturation region, the current is given by:

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Ideal MOSFET Current-Voltage

Characteristics – PMOS Device

 The parameter Kp is the conduction parameter for the p-channel

device is given by:

where W, L, and Cox are the channel width, length, and oxide
capacitance per unit area.
The μp is the mobility of holes in the hole inversion layer.
 Can be written in the form: where k′p = μpCox

 For a p-channel MOSFET biased in the saturation region, we

have:

Circuit Symbols and Conventions –

PMOS enhancement mode

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LIST OF FORMULAS: PMOS

TRIODE OR NON-SATURATION REGION

VSG > |VTP |

SATURATION REGION

vSD (sat) vSD

Where

or

μp = mobility of holes and

Cox = oxide capacitance per unit area.

• NMOS • PMOS
o VTN is POSITIVE o VTP is NEGATIVE
o VGS > VTN to turn on o VSG > |VTP| to turn on
o Triode/non-saturation o Triode/non-saturation
region region

o Saturation region o Saturation region

o VDSsat = VGS - VTN o VSDsat = VSG + VTP

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