1

1
Slides adapted from:
N. Weste, D. Harris, CMOS VLSI Design,
Addison-Wesley, 3/e, 2004
MOS Transistor
Theory
2
Outline
The Big Picture
MOS Structure
Ideal I-V Charcteristics
MOS Capacitance Models
Non ideal I-V Effects
Pass transistor circuits
Tristate Inverter
Switch level RC Delay Models
2
3
The Big Picture
So far, we have treated transistors as ideal switches
An ON transistor passes a finite amount of current
Depends on terminal voltages
Derive current-voltage (I-V) relationships
Transistor gate, source, drain all have capacitance
I = C (V/t) t = (C/I) V
Capacitance and current determine speed
4
MOS Transistor Symbol
3
5
MOS Structure
Gate and body form
MOS capacitor
Operating modes
Accumulation
Depletion
Inversion
6
nMOS Transistor Terminal Voltages
Mode of operation depends on V
g
, V
d
, V
s
V
gs
= V
g
V
s
V
gd
= V
g
V
d
V
ds
= V
d
V
s
= V
gs
- V
gd
Source and drain are symmetric diffusion terminals
By convention, source is terminal at lower voltage
Hence V
ds
0
nMOS body is grounded. First assume source is 0 too.
Three regions of operation
Cutoff
Linear
Saturation
V
g
V
s
V
d
V
gd
V
gs
V
ds
+
-
+
-
+
-
4
7
nMOS in cutoff operation mode
No channel
I
ds
= 0
8
nMOS in linear operation mode
Channel forms
Current flows from D to S
e
-
from S to D
I
ds
increases with V
ds
Similar to linear
resistor
5
9
nMOS in Saturation operation mode
Channel pinches off
I
ds
independent of V
ds
We say current saturates
Similar to current source
10
pMOS Transistor
6
11
I-V Characteristics (nMOS)
In Linear region, I
ds
depends on
How much charge is in the channel?
How fast is the charge moving?
12
Channel Charge
MOS structure looks like parallel
plate capacitor while operating in
inversion:
Gate oxide channel
Q
channel
= CV
C = C
g
=
ox
WL/t
ox
= c
ox
WL
V = V
gc
V
t
= (V
gs
V
ds
/2) V
t
c
ox
=
ox
/ t
ox
7
13
Carrier velocity
Charge is carried by e-
Carrier velocity v proportional to lateral
E-field between source and drain
v = E called mobility
E = V
ds
/L
Time for carrier to cross channel:
t = L / v
14
nMOS Linear I-V
Now we know
How much charge Q
channel
is in the channel
How much time t each carrier takes to cross
channel
ox
2
2
ds
ds
gs t ds
ds
gs t ds
Q
I
t
W
V
C V V V
L
V
V V V

=
| |
=
|
\ .
| |
=
|
\ .
ox
=
W
C
L

=
8
15
nMOS Saturation I-V
If V
gd
< V
t
, channel pinches off near drain
When V
ds
> V
dsat
= V
gs
V
t
Now drain voltage no longer increases current
( )
2
2
2
dsat
ds gs t dsat
gs t
V
I V V V
V V

| |
=
|
\ .
=
16
nMOS I-V Summary
( )
2
cutoff
linear
saturatio
0
2
2
n
gs t
ds
ds gs t ds ds dsat
gs t ds dsat
V V
V
I V V V V V
V V V V

<

| |
= <
|
\ .

>

first order transistor models

9
17
I-V characteristics of nMOS Transistor
18
Example
0.6 m process from AMI Semiconductor
t
ox
= 100
m = 350 cm
2
/V*s
V
t
= 0.7 V
Plot I
ds
vs. V
ds
V
gs
= 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Use W/L = 4/2
( )
14
2
8
3.9 8.85 10
350 120 /
100 10
ox
W W W
C A V
L L L

| | | |
= = =
| |

\ .
\ .
0 1 2 3 4 5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
V
ds
I
d
s

(
m
A
)
V
gs
= 5
V
gs
= 4
V
gs
= 3
V
gs
= 2
V
gs
= 1
10
19
pMOS I-V Characteritics
All dopings and voltages are inverted for pMOS
Mobility
p
is determined by holes
Typically 2-3x lower than that of electrons
n
120 cm
2
/V*s in AMI 0.6 mm process
Thus pMOS must be wider to provide same
current
In this class, assume
n
/
p
= 2
20
pMOS I-V Summary
( )
2
cutoff
linear
saturatio
0
2
2
n
gs t
ds
ds gs t ds ds dsat
gs t ds dsat
V V
V
I V V V V V
V V V V

<

| |
= <
|
\ .

>

first order transistor models

11
21
I-V characteristics of pMOS Transistor
22
Capacitances of a MOS Transistor
Any two conductors separated by an insulator
have capacitance
Gate to channel capacitor is very important
Creates channel charge necessary for
operation (intrinsic capacitance)
Source and drain have capacitance to body
(parasitic capacitance)
Across reverse-biased diodes
Called diffusion capacitance because it is
associated with source/drain diffusion
12
23
Gate Capacitance
When the transistor is off, the channel is not
inverted
C
g
= C
gb
=
ox
WL/t
ox
= C
ox
WL
Lets call C
ox
WL = C
0
When the transistor is on, the channel extends
from the source to the drain (if the transistor is
unsaturated, or to the pinchoff point otherwise)
C
g
= C
gb
+ C
gs
+ C
gd
24
Gate Capacitance
In reality the gate overlaps source and
drain. Thus, the gate capacitance should
include not only the intrinsic capacitance
but also parasitic overlap capacitances:
C
gs
(overlap) = C
ox
W L
D
C
gs
(overlap) = C
ox
W L
D
13
25
Detailed Gate Capacitance
2/3 C
0
+ C
ox
WL
D
C
0
/2 + C
ox
WL
D
C
ox
WL
D
C
gs
(total)
C
ox
WL
D
C
0
/2 + C
ox
WL
D
C
ox
WL
D
C
gd
(total)
0 0 C
0
C
gb
(total)
Saturation Linear Cutoff Capacitance
Source: M-S Kang, Y. Leblebici,
CMOS Digital ICs, 3/e,
2003, McGraw-Hill
26
Diffusion Capacitance
C
sb
, C
db
Undesired capacitance (parasitic)
Due to the reverse biased p-n
junctions between source diffusion
and body and drain diffusion and body
Capacitance depends on area and
perimeter
Use small diffusion nodes
Comparable to C
g
for
contacted diffusion
C
g
for uncontacted
Varies with process
14
27
Lumped representation of the
MOSFET capacitances
28
Non-ideal I-V effects
The saturation current increases less than quadratically with
increasing V
gs
Velocity saturation
Mobility degradation
Channel length modulation
Body Effect
Leakage currents
Sub-threshold conduction
Junction leakage
Tunneling
Temperature Dependence
Geometry Dependence
15
29
Velocity saturation and
mobility degradation
At strong lateral fields
resulting from high V
ds
,
drift velocity rolls off due
to carrier scattering and
eventually saturates
Strong vertical fields
resulting from large V
gs
cause the carriers to
scatter against the
surface and also reduce
the carrier mobility. This
effect is called mobility
degradation
30
Channel length modulation
The reverse biased p-n junction
between the drain and the body
forms a depletion region with length
L that increases with V
db
. The
depletion region effectively shorten
the channel length to: L
eff
= L L
Assuming the source voltage is
close to the body votage V
db
~ V
sb
.
Hence, increasing V
ds
decrease the
effective channel length.
Shorter channel length results in
higher current
16
31
Body Effect
The potential difference between source and
body V
sb
affects (increases) the threshold
voltage
Threshold voltage depends on:
V
sb
Process
Doping
Temperature
32
Subthreshold Conduction
The ideal transistor I-V model assumes current only flows
from source to drain when V
gs
> V
t
.
In real transistors, current doesnt abruptly cut off below
threshold, but rather drop off exponentially
This leakage current when the transistor is nominally OFF
depends on:
process (
ox
, t
ox
)
doping levels (N
A
, or N
D
)
device geometry (W, L)
temperature (T)
( Subthreshold voltage (V
t
) )
17
33
Junction Leakage
The p-n junctions between diffusion and the substrate or
well for diodes.
The well-to-substrate is another diode
Substrate and well are tied to GND and VDD to ensure
these diodes remain reverse biased
But, reverse biased diodes still conduct a small amount of
current that depends on:
Doping levels
Area and perimeter of the diffusion region
The diode voltage
34
Tunneling
There is a finite probability that
carriers will tunnel though the
gate oxide. This result in gate
leakage current flowing into
the gate
The probability drops off
exponentially with t
ox
For oxides thinner than
15-20 , tunneling becomes a
factor
18
35
Temperature dependence
Transistor characteristics are
influenced by temperature
decreases with T
V
t
decreases linearly with T
I
leakage
increases with T
ON current decreases with T
OFF current increases with T
Thus, circuit performances are
worst at high temperature
36
Geometry Dependence
Layout designers draw transistors with W
drawn
, L
drawn
Actual dimensions may differ from some factor X
W
and X
L
The source and drain tend to diffuse laterally under the
gate by L
D
, producing a shorter effective channel
Similarly, diffusion of the bulk by W
D
decreases the
effective channel width
In process below 0.25 m the effective length of the
transistor also depends significantly on the orientation of
the transistor
19
37
Impact of non-ideal I-V effects
Threshold is a significant fraction of the supply voltage
Leakage is increased causing gates to
consume power when idle
limits the amount of time that data is retained
Leakage increases with temperature
Velocity saturation and mobility degradation
result in less current than expected at high voltage
No point in trying to use high VDD to achieve fast
transistors
Transistors in series partition the voltage across each
transistor thus experience less velocity saturation
Tend to be a little faster than a single transistor
Two nMOS in series deliver more than half the
current of a single nMOS transistor of the same
width
Matching: same dimension and orientation
38
Pass Transistors
nMOS pass transistors pull no higher than V
DD
-V
tn
Called a degraded 1
Approach degraded value slowly (low I
ds
)
pMOS pass transistors pull no lower than |V
tp
|
Called a degraded 0
Approach degraded value slowly (low I
ds
)
20
39
Pass transistor Circuits
40
Transmission gate ON resistance
21
41
Tri-state Inverter
If the output is tri-stated but A toggles,
charge from the internal nodes (= caps)
may disturb the floating output node
42
Effective resistance of a transistor
First-order transistor models have limited value
Not accurate enough for modern transistors
Too complicated for hand analysis
Simplification: treat transistor as resistor
Replace I
ds
(V
ds
, V
gs
) with effective resistance R
I
ds
= V
ds
/R
R averaged across switching range of digital gate
Too inaccurate to predict current at any given time
But good enough to predict RC delay (propagation delay of a
logic gate)
22
43
RC Values
Capacitance
C = C
g
= C
s
= C
d
= 2 fF/m of gate width
Values similar across many processes
Resistance
R 6 K*m in 0.6um process
Improves with shorter channel lengths
Unit transistors
May refer to minimum contacted device (4/2 )
or maybe 1 m wide device
Doesnt matter as long as you are consistent
44
RC Delay Models
Use equivalent circuits for MOS transistors
ideal switch + capacitance and ON resistance
unit nMOS has resistance R, capacitance C
unit pMOS has resistance 2R, capacitance C
Capacitance proportional to width
Resistance inversely proportional to width
23
45
Switch level RC models
46
Inverter Delay Estimate
Estimate the delay of a fanout-of-1 inverter
delay = 6RC
24
47
Resistance of a unit transmission gate
z The effective resistance of a transmission gate is the
parallel of the resistance of the two transistor
z Approximately R in both directions
z Transmission gates are commonly built using equal-sized
transistors
z Boosting the size of the pMOS only slightly improve the
effective resistance while significantly increasing the
capacitance
48
Summary
Models are only approximations to reality, not reality itself
Models cannot be perfectly accurate
Little value in using excessively complicated models, particularly
for hand calculations
To first order current is proportional to W/L
But, in modern transistors L
eff
is shorter than L
drawn
Doubling the L
drawn
reduces current more than a factor of two
Two series transistors in a modern process deliver more than half
the current of a single transistor
Use Transmission gates in place of pass transistors
Transistor speed depends on the ratio of current to capacitance
Sources of capacitance (voltage dependents)
Gate capacitance
Diffusion capacitance