Introduction to MOS devices

Dr. D. V. Kamath
Professor, Department of E&C Engg.,
Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal

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 MOS versus BJT
Characteristics BJT MOS
C D

Symbol
B B
G

E S

Current conduction Bipolar Unipolar

Noise MOSFETs are less noisy than BJTs. Hence, MOSFETs are more suitable
for signal processing applications

Source Type Current Controlled Current Voltage Controlled Current Source

Source (CCCS) (VCCS)

Input Impedance Low High

Characteristic parameter β (ℎ𝐹𝐸 ) 𝑔𝑚

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 MOS versus BJT

Characteristics BJT MOS

Current µ𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑥 𝑊 2
𝐼𝑐 = 𝐼𝑠 𝑒 𝑉𝐵𝐸 Τ𝑉𝑇 𝐼𝑑𝑠 = 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ
2 𝐿 𝑔𝑠

Transconductance 𝑔𝑚 = 𝐼𝑐 Τ𝜂𝑉𝑇 𝑔𝑚 = 2𝛽𝐼𝑑𝑠

Current driving capability High Low

Package density Low High

MOSFETS have higher bandwidth compared to BJTs.

Bandwidth
It is relatively easy to control device geometries and scaling in
MOS devices when compared with BJT circuits.

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 MOS Symbols
nMOS pMOS
D S

G B G B

S D
D S

G G

S D

D S

G G

S D

Enhancement type nMOS and pMOS 4

 nMOS Device

LD (lateral diffusion) - Level 2 SPICE model parameter

DL (delta length) - BSIM model parameter
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 mobility of carrier

The term carrier mobility refers in general to both electron and hole
mobility in semiconductors.

When an electric field E is applied across a piece of material, the

electrons respond by moving with an average velocity called the drift
velocity,𝑣𝑑 . Then the electron mobility μ𝑛 is defined as

𝑣𝑑 = μ𝑛 E

Electron mobility is specified in units of cm2 /V. sec

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 MOS parameters
Parameter Description Equation Unit
µ𝑛 Surface mobility of carrier - cm2 ΤVsec
𝑊 Τ𝐿 Channel aspect ratio - -

𝐶𝑔 Gate-to-channel ɛ𝑖𝑛𝑠 ɛ𝑜 𝑊𝐿
𝐶𝑔 = pF
capacitance 𝑡𝑜𝑥

𝐶𝑔 ɛ𝑖𝑛𝑠 ɛ𝑜
𝐶𝑜𝑥 Gate capacitance per unit 𝐶𝑜𝑥 = =
𝑊𝐿 𝑡𝑜𝑥 𝑝𝐹 Τµ𝑚2
area

ɛ𝑖𝑛𝑠 ɛ𝑜
𝐾𝑛 Process transconductance 𝐾𝑛 = µ𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑥 = µ𝑛 𝐴Τ𝑉 2
𝐷
parameter

𝑊
β Beta 𝛽𝑛 = 𝐾𝑛 𝐴Τ𝑉 2
𝐿

𝛥𝑉 Overdrive potential 𝛥𝑉 = 𝑉𝑔𝑠 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ V

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 MOS operation

Enhancement-type nMOS transistor in non-conducting condition

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 MOS operation

Enhancement-type nMOS transistor with 𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 𝑉𝑇𝐻 and 𝑉𝐷𝑆 = 0

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 MOS operation

Enhancement-type nMOS transistor with 𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 𝑉𝑇𝐻 and a small 𝑉𝐷𝑆
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 MOS operation

Increasing VDS causes the channel to acquire a tapered shape

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Input characteristics for an nMOS Enhancement type transistor

Plot of Ids versus Vgs for an nMOS transistor

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Drain or output characteristics for an nMOS
Enhancement type transistor

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 MOS drain characteristics

Vds,sat = VGS − Vth is the pinch-off voltage

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Drain characteristics of depletion type NMOS

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Transfer characteristics of depletion type NMOS

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Drain characteristics of enhancement type NMOS

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 Ids versus Vds relationship

 Charge induced below the thinox layer between drain and source is
dependent on Vgs
 Drain current Ids is thus dependent on both Vds and Vgs
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Electron transit time

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 Ids versus Vds relationship for MOS in non-saturation region

 Voltage along the channel varies linearly with distance X from

the source due to the IR drop in the channel, the average value is
Vds/2

 Effective gate voltage is Vgs – Vth

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21
Ids expression for MOS in non-saturation region

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Ids expression for MOS in non-saturation region

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 Ids expression for MOS in saturation region

Substituting limiting condition Vds = Vgs – Vth in (1), we

get Ids expression for saturation region

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gm expression for MOS in saturation region

𝜕Ids
MOS tranconductance g m = / Vds=constant
𝜕Vgs

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 MOS transistor figure of merit ω𝑂

The parameter ω𝑂 is used as a measure of frequency

response or switching speed
ωO = 1Ττsd

W
g m μn Cox L Vgs − Vth μn Vgs − Vth 1
ωO = = = 2
=
Cg Cox WL L τsd

A fast switching speed requires that 𝑔𝑚 be as high as

possible

The switching speed depends on effective gate voltage and

on carrier mobility and inversely as the square of channel
length 26
 Drain current equations for NMOS

Region of Equation Condition

operation

Cut-off 𝐼𝑑𝑠𝑛 = 0 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑛 < 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑛

β𝑛 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑛 > 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑛

𝐼𝑑𝑠𝑛 = 𝑉 2 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑛 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑛 − 𝑉𝑑𝑠𝑛
Ohmic 2 𝑑𝑠
𝑉𝑑𝑠𝑛 < 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑛 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑛

𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑛 > 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑛

Saturation β𝑛 2
𝐼𝑑𝑠𝑛 = 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑛 𝑉𝑑𝑠𝑛 ≥ 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑛 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑛
2 𝑔𝑠𝑛

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 Drain current equations for PMOS
Region of Equation Condition
operation
𝑉𝑠𝑔𝑝 < 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝 or
Cut-off 𝐼𝑑𝑠𝑝 = 0 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑝 ˃ 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝

β𝑝
𝐼𝑠𝑑𝑝 = 𝑉 2 𝑉𝑠𝑔𝑝 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝 − 𝑉𝑠𝑑𝑝
2 𝑠𝑑 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑝 > 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝
Ohmic or
−𝐼𝑑𝑠𝑝 = 𝐼𝑠𝑑𝑝 𝑉𝑑𝑠𝑝 < 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑝 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝
β𝑝
= 𝑉𝑑𝑠𝑝 2 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑝 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝 − 𝑉𝑑𝑠𝑝
2
β𝑝 2
Saturation 𝐼𝑠𝑑𝑝 = 𝑉𝑠𝑔𝑝 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑝 > 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝
2
or
β𝑝 𝑉𝑑𝑠𝑝 > 𝑉𝑔𝑠𝑝 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝
2
−𝐼𝑑𝑠𝑝 = 𝐼𝑠𝑑𝑝 = 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ𝑝
2 𝑔𝑠𝑝 28
 Deep Ohmic region

Region of Description Equation

operation

𝐼𝑑𝑠 = β 𝑉𝑔𝑠 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ 𝑉𝑑𝑠 𝑉𝑔𝑠 > 𝑉𝑡ℎ

Deep ohmic
1 𝑉𝐷𝑆 ≪ 2 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑇𝐻
𝑅𝑜𝑛 =
β 𝑉𝑔𝑠 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ
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 MOS transconductance
𝜕𝐼𝐷
𝑔𝑚 = |𝑉
𝜕𝑉𝐺𝑆 𝑑𝑠,𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡

𝛽 2
𝐼𝑑𝑠 = 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑀𝑂𝑆 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
2 𝑔𝑠

𝑔𝑚 = 𝛽 𝑉𝑔𝑠 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ

𝑔𝑚 = 2β𝐼𝑑𝑠

2𝐼𝑑𝑠
𝑔𝑚 =
𝑉𝑔𝑠 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ

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Basic MOS small-signal model (at low frequencies)

i ds
G D
+ +

v gs g m v gs v ds

- -

 𝑖𝑑 = 𝑔𝑚 𝑣𝑔𝑠
 MOS device is basically characterized by transconductance 𝑔𝑚
 MOS device is modeled by VCCS
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 Second-order effects

The dominant second-order effects are

 Channel length modulation
 Bulk effect

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 MOSFET in saturation
𝑉𝐺𝑆 > 𝑉𝑡ℎ and 𝑉𝐷𝑆 ≥ 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ

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 Channel length modulation

𝐾𝑛 𝑊 2
𝐼𝐷𝑆 = 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑇𝐻 where 𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 = 𝐿𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑛 − 𝐷𝐿
2 𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐

𝜕𝐼𝐷𝑆 𝐾𝑛 𝑊 2
𝜕𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐
=− 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑇𝐻
𝜕𝑉𝐷𝑆 2 𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 2 𝐺𝑆 𝜕𝑉𝐷𝑆

𝜕𝐼𝐷𝑆 𝐾𝑛 𝑊 2
1 𝜕𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐
= 𝑉 − 𝑉𝑇𝐻 −
𝜕𝑉𝐷𝑆 2 𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 𝐺𝑆 𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 𝜕𝑉𝐷𝑆

𝜕𝐼𝐷𝑆 1 𝜕𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐
= 𝐼𝐷𝑆 𝜆𝑐 where 𝜆𝑐 = −
𝜕𝑉𝐷𝑆 𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 𝜕𝑉𝑑𝑠

1
𝜕𝐼𝑑𝑠 = 𝐼𝑑𝑠 𝜆𝑐 𝜕𝑉𝑑𝑠 𝑟𝑑𝑠 =
𝐼𝑑𝑠 𝜆𝑐
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MOS drain characteristics

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 Channel length modulation

Parameter Description Equation Unit Typical value

Lambda Channel length modulation 𝜆 = − 1 𝜕𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 𝑉 −1 0.06 𝑉 −1

𝑐
(λc ) coefficient 𝐿𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 𝜕𝑉𝑑𝑠

𝑟𝑑𝑠 Output resistance 𝑟𝑑𝑠 = 1Τ𝐼𝑑𝑠 𝜆𝑐 kΩ -

𝑉𝐸 Early voltage (per unit 𝑉𝐸 = 1Τ𝜆𝐿 VΤµm L 5 − 50 VΤµm L

channel length)

𝐾𝑛 𝑊
𝐼𝐷𝑆 = 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ 2 1 + 𝜆𝑐 𝑉𝐷𝑆 − 𝑉𝑂𝑉
2 𝐿
𝑊
𝑔𝑚 = 𝐾𝑛 𝑉𝐺𝑆 − 𝑉𝑡ℎ 1 + 𝜆𝑐 𝑉𝐷𝑆 − 𝑉𝑂𝑉
𝐿

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 MOS output resistance 𝑟𝑑𝑠

The output resistance 𝑟𝑑𝑠 is expressed as

δVds 1
rds = =
δIds λ𝐼𝑑𝑠

1 1
𝜆𝛼 and 𝐼𝑑𝑠 𝛼
𝐿 𝐿

rds α L2

The output resistance 𝑟𝑑𝑠 is strongly dependent on the channel

length
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 Threshold voltage expression
𝐐𝐝𝐞𝐩
𝐕𝐓𝐇 = 𝛟𝐌𝐒 + 2𝛟𝐅 +
𝐂𝐨𝐱
𝛟𝐌𝐒 is the difference between the work functions of the
polysilicon gate and the silicon substrate
𝟐𝛟𝐅 is surface inversion potential. 𝛟𝐅 (difference between fermi
potential of the substrate and intrinic silicon) is given as
𝐤𝐓 𝐍𝐬𝐮𝐛
𝛟𝐅 = 𝐥𝐧
𝐪 𝐧𝐢
𝐐𝐝𝐞𝐩 is the charge in the depletion region, given as
Q dep = 4qƐSi ϕF Nsub
where
q is the electron charge
Nsub is doping concentration of the substrate
Cox is the gate-oxide capacitance per unit area
ƐSi is dielectric constant of the Silicon 38
 Bulk connection in MOS device

pMOS
S

 There are 2 options for bulk connection in a MOS transistor :

G V
DD [i] connect it to Vss for NMOS and Vdd for PMOS
[ii] always connect it to the source of the transistor
D

D
 It is not always possible to tie the source and the bulk of the
transistor together
G V
SS

S
nMOS

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 Bulk effect

 In Fig. (a), suppose Vsb = 0 and Vgs < Vth the depletion region is
formed under the gate and no inversion layer exists. Let Qd is the
charge in the depletion region.
 In Fig. (b), as VB becomes more negative, more holes from p-
substrate are attracted towards VB leaving a larger negative
charge behind. The depletion region becomes wider.
 VTH is a function of the total charge in the depletion region
because the gate charge must mirror Qd. Hence, reverse-biasing the
body-source PN junction increases the threshold voltage.
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 Bulk effect

 Here VBS = - Vs (i.e., p-type bulk is connected to –Vs) and the body-
source PN junction is reverse biased. Hence bulk effect needs to be
considered .

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 Bulk effect

 Source-to-body voltage VSB is not necessarily equal to zero (i.e., VSB ≠ 0)

 The source-to-body voltage VSB affects VTH of the transistor

 VTH = VTH0 + γ 2ϕF + VSB − 2ϕF

where γ is bulk effect coefficient [γ = 2qƐSi Nsub ൗCox ]

2ϕF is surface inversion potential

The value of γ typically lies in the range of 0.3 to 0.4 V

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 Bulk effect

Parameter Description Equation Unit Typical

value
GAMMA(γ) Body effect coefficient 𝛾= 2𝑞ɛ𝑆𝑖 𝑁𝑠𝑢𝑏 ൗ𝐶𝑜𝑥 𝑉 0.4 𝑉
𝑉𝑇𝐻
VTO Threshold voltage with zero = 𝑉𝑇𝐻0 𝑉 0.6 V
𝑉𝑆𝐵 +𝛾 2𝜙𝐹 + 𝑉𝑆𝐵 − 2𝜙𝐹
PHI Surface inversion potential 𝑃𝐻𝐼 = 2ϕ𝐹 𝑉 -

𝑔𝑚 Transconductance 𝜕𝐼𝐷
𝑔𝑚 = |𝑉 mʊ -
(front-gate transconductance) 𝜕𝑉𝐺𝑆 𝑑𝑠,𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡

𝑔𝑚𝑏 Transconductance with bulk

effect (back-gate 𝑔𝑚𝑏 = 𝜕𝐼𝐷 Τ𝜕𝑉𝐵𝑆 mʊ -
transconductance)
η Ratio of back-gate
transconductance to front- 𝜂 = 𝑔𝑚𝑏 Τ𝑔𝑚 - 0.2
gate transconductance

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 Contact

• reachdvkamath@yahoo.com
• dv.kamath@manipal.edu

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