EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Electrical Characteristics of MOS Devices

The MOS Capacitor
x
Voltage components
Accumulation, Depletion, Inversion Modes
Effect of channel bias and substrate bias
Effect of gate oxide charges
Threshold-voltage adjustment by implantation
Capacitance vs. voltage characteristics
MOS Field-Effect Transistor
I-V characteristics
Parameter extraction
ox

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

VG
+
metal
oxide

semiconductor

EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

1) Reading Assignment
Streetman: Section of Streetman Chap 8 on MOS

2) Visit the Device Visualization Website

http://jas.eng.buffalo.edu/
and run the visualization experiments of
1) Charge carriers and Fermi level,
2) pn junctions
3) MOS capacitors
4) MOSFETs

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Work Function of Materials

METAL

SEMICONDUCTOR
Eo

Work function
= q

Ef

Vacuum
energy level

Ef

Eo
EC
EV

qM is determined

qS is determined

by the metal material

by the semiconductor material,

the dopant type,
and doping concentration

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Work Function (qM) of MOS Gate Materials

Eo = vacuum energy level
Ef = Fermi level
EC = bottom of conduction band EV = top of conduction
band
q = 4.15eV (electron affinity)

Eo

Eo

Eo
qM
qM

q = 4.15eV

q = 4.15eV

EC

EC

Ef
0.56eV

0.56eV
qM

Ef
Examples:
Al = 4.1 eV
TiSi2 = 4.6 eV

Ei

Ei
0.56eV
EV

n+ poly-Si
(Ef = EC)
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

0.56eV
Ef

EV
p+ poly-Si
(Ef = EV)

EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Work Function of doped Si substrate

F

* Depends on substrate concentration NB

Eo

kT N B

ln
q
ni

Eo

qs
Ef
Ei

q = 4.15eV
EC
0.56eV
|qF|

qs
Ei
Ef

0.56eV

q = 4.15eV
EC
0.56eV
|qF|
0.56eV

EV
n-type Si

s (volts) = 4.15 +0.56 - |F|

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EV
p-type Si
s (volts) = 4.15 +0.56 + |F|
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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

The MOS Capacitor

VG
+
+
_

xox

metal
oxide

VFB
+
_
+
_

Vox (depends on VG)

Vsi (depends on VG)

semiconductor

VG VFB Vox VSi

ox
C ox
xox

[in Farads /cm2]

Oxide capacitance/unit area

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Flat Band Voltage

VFB is the built-in voltage of the MOS:

VFB M S
Gate work function M:
Al: 4.1 V; n+ poly-Si: 4.15 V; p+ poly-Si: 5.27 V

Semiconductor work function S :

s (volts) = 4.15 +0.56 - |F| for n-Si
s (volts) = 4.15 +0.56 + |F| for p-Si

Vox = voltage drop across oxide (depends on VG)

VSi = voltage drop in the silicon (depends on VG)

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

MOS Operation Modes

A) Accumulation: VG < VFB for p-type substrate
M

Si (p-Si)
holes

Charge Distribution

Thickness of accumulation layer ~0

VSi 0, so Vox = VG - VFB

QSi = charge/unit area in Si
=Cox (VG - VFB )

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

MOS Operation Modes

B) Flatband Condition : VG = VFB
No charge in Si (and hence no charge in metal gate)

VSi = Vox = 0
M

S (p-Si)

Charge Distribution

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

MOS Operation Modes (cont.)

C) Depletion: VG > VFB
Charge Distribution
M

Depletion
Layer

xd

thickness

2Si VSi
qN B

S (p-Si)

xd

qNB

VG VFB

qN Bx d qN Bx d

Cox
2s

Note: NBxd is the total

charge in Si /unit area
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Vox

VSi

Depletion layer

(For given VG, can solve for xd)

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Depletion Mode :Charge and Electric Field Distributions

by Superposition Principle of Electrostatics
(x)
Q'
M etal

(x)
Q'
Oxide

Semiconductor
x=xo + x
d
x

M etal

(x)
Q'
Oxide

Semiconductor

x=0

E(x)
Metal
Oxide Semiconductor

Metal

E (x)
Oxide

x=xo

x=xo

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

x=0

Semiconductor

Metal

x
x=x + x
o d

x=xo + x
d
x=0

- Q'

x=xo

Semiconductor
x=xo + x
d x

Oxide

x=0

M etal

x=0

x=x

E(x)
Oxide

x=xo

Semiconductor

x
x=x + x
o d
x=0

x=x

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

MOS Operation Modes (cont.)

D) Threshold of Inversion: VG = VT

This is a definition
for onset of

nsurface = NB (for p-type substrate)

strong inversion

=> VSi = 2|F|

S (p-Si)
xdmax

qNB
Qn

VG VT VFB
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

2 s ( 2 F )qN B
C ox

2 F
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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

MOS Operation Modes (cont.)

E) Strong Inversion: VG > VT

xdmax is approximately unchanged

xd max

4 Si F
qN B

when VG> VT

S (p-Si)
xdmax

Vox

qN B xd max Qn
C ox

Qn C ox (VG VT )
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

qNa
Qn

electrons
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EE143 F2010

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 22

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EE143 F2010

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 22

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

p-Si

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Voltage drop = area under E-field curve

Accumulation

Vox = Qa/Cox
VSi ~ 0

Vox =qNaxd/Cox

Depletion

VSi = qNaxd2/(2s)
Vox = [qNaxdmax+Qn]/Cox

Inversion

VSi = qNaxdmax2/(2s)
= 2|F|

* For simplicity, dielectric constants assumed to be same for oxide and Si in E-field sketches
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Suggested Exercise

Most derivations for MOS shown in lecture notes

are done with p-type substrate (NMOS)
as example.
Repeat the derivations yourself for n-type substrate
(PMOS) to test your understanding of MOS.

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

p-Si substrate (NMOS)

Accumulation
(holes)

strong inversion
(electrons)

depletion

VFB

VT

VG
(more
positive)

n-Si substrate (PMOS)

VG
(more
negative)

Strong inversion
(holes)

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

VT

Accumulation
(electrons)

depletion

VFB
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EE143 F2010

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 22

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EE143 F2010

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 22

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EE143 F2010

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 22

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EE143 F2010

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 22

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EE143 F2010

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

Lecture 22

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

C-V Characteristic
C/Cox

C/Cox
e

b
p-type
substrate

a
b

VG

VT

n-type
substrate

VG

VT

a) accumulation: Cox

b) flatband: ~Cox (actually a bit less)

c) depletion: Cox in series with the Cdepl
d) threshold: Cox in series with the minimum Cdepl
e) inversion: Cox (with some time delay!)
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Small signal charge response Q due to VG

Q

All frequencies

Accumulation

C = Cox

Depletion

All frequencies

1/C = 1/Cox + xd/s

Q
Q

Inversion

Low frequency
C = Cox
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

High frequency
1/C = 1/Cox + xdmax/s

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Effect of Substrate Bias VB and Channel Bias VC

VG
VC

inversion
electrons

M
O

depletion
region

n+
n+

p-Si
VB

VG VB VFB

Vox VSi

net bias across MOS

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

At the onset of strong inversion, where VG is defined

as the threshold voltage

Si

Ei
Efs

qp

q(VC-VB)
qp

Efn

1 qN a X
VSi
2
s

d max

VSi 2 p VC VB
2

qN a X d max 1 qN a X d max
VG VB VFB

C OX
2
s
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

At threshold: VG VB = VFB+Vox+VSi
But VSi = 2|p| + (VC - VB ) =>
xdmax is different from no-bias case

2 SiVSi
xd max
qN B
VT -VB = VFB +

2sqNB(2|F| + VC-VB)
+ 2|F| + VC - VB
Cox

Vox
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

VSi
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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Flat Band Voltage with Oxide charges

VFB is the Gate voltage required to create no charge in the Si

1 x ox ( x)
VFB M S

dx

Cox Cox 0 xox

xox

Qf

ox (x)

Qf

O
x=0

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

x = xox

ox (x) due to alkaline

contaminants or trapped
charge
Qf due to broken bonds
at
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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

VT Tailoring with Ion Implantation

Qi
VT
COX
Shallow implanted

Qi = q implant dose in Si

dopant profile at Si-SiO2

Nsub

interface (approximated as
a delta function)

Acceptor implant gives positive shift (+ VT)

Donor implant gives negative shift - VT

Algebraic sign of VT shift is independent of n or p substrate !
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

The delta-function approximation of implanted profile

* Valid if thickness of implanted dopants << xdmax

implanted acceptors
SiO2

SiO2

p-Si
xdmax

Na
p-Si

Qd

Qn

Doping Profile After Implantation

Qd (due to implanted acceptors)
Charge Distribution for V G > VT

The VT shift can be viewed as the extra gate voltage nee

deplete the implanted dopants ~ Qi/Cox

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Summary : Parameters Affecting VT

1 M

6 OX & Q f

n+

Qn

Na

xox

n+

VC

5
3

4 VB

Dopant implant near Si/SiO2 interface

Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

M increases
|VCB| increases
B threshold implant

Xox increases

Xox increases

As or P threshold implant

+ Qf or Qox
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

|VCB| increases

M decreases
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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Summary of MOS Threshold Voltage (NMOS, p-substrate)

Threshold voltage of MOS capacitor:

VT = VFB +

2sqNB(2|F|)
Qi
+ 2|F| Cox
Cox

Threshold voltage of MOS transistor:

2sqNB(2|F| + |VC-VB|)
Qi
VT = VFB +
+ 2|F| + VC Cox
Cox
Note 1: At the onset of strong inversion, inversion charge is negligible

and is often ignored in the VT expression

Note 2: VT of a MOSFET is taken as the VT value at source ( i.e., VC =VS)
Note 3 : Qi = (q implant dose ) is the charge due to the ionized donors
or acceptors implanted at the Si surface. Qi is negative for acceptors
and is positive for donors
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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EE143 F2010

Lecture 22

Summary of MOS Threshold Voltage (PMOS, n-substrate)

Threshold voltage of MOS capacitor:

VT = VFB -

2sqNB(2|F|)
Qi
- 2|F| Cox
Cox

Threshold voltage of MOS transistor:

VT = VFB -

2sqNB(2|F| + |VC-VB|)
Qi
- 2|F| + VC Cox
Cox

* Yes, + sign for VC term but VC (<0) is a negative bias for PMOS because the
inversion holes have to be negatively biased with respect to the n-substrate
to create a reverse biased pn junction.
Professor N Cheung, U.C. Berkeley

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