Metal Oxide Semiconductor structures are created by superimposing several layers

of conducting, insulating & transistor forming materials. After series of such

steps, a typical resulting structure (MOSFET) will consist of levels such as:
Diffusion
Polysilicon
Metal
Insulating
etc.
Based on their mode of working or the status of channel, there are two types of
MOSFETs: Enhancement MOSFET (Naturally OFF, channel must be formed) & Depletion
MOSFET (Naturally ON, channel must be depleted). These two are further divided i
nto nMOS & pMOS. The enhancement MOSFETs are more popular and among them, the nM
OS enhancement transistor.
nMOS is created on silicon substrate which is positively doped & vice-versa.
In both cases, there are four terminals (only three of which are popularly used)
: Gate (G), Source (S), Drain (D) and Substrate (SS)/Body (B). The gate is a pol
ysilicon level whereas source & drain are diffusion regions. In between source a
nd drain, there is a portion of substrate where a channel must be created (or de
pleted) for the MOSFET to work.
Gate is a control input that controls the status of channel & in other words the
flow of electrical current (Drain-Source current, IDS). The important signals i
nvolved in MOSFET are:
VT or VTH
Threshold Voltage
VGS Gate-Source voltage
IDS Channel current, Drain-Source current
VDS Drain-Source voltage (kept constant in many applications)
The threshold voltage for an MOS transistor can be defined as the voltage applied
between Source & Gate (VGS), below which the Drain-to-Source current (IDS) effec
tively drops to zero.
Note: Refer Module 1 notes for states (accumulation, depletion, inversion) and m
odes/regions (cut-off, non-saturation, saturation)
Threshold voltage is dependent on various factors like:
Gate material
Gate insulator/oxide material
Gate oxide thickness
Channel doping level
Presence of impurities at channel-gate oxide interface
Voltage between Source & Substrate (VSB)
Also, threshold voltage decreases with increase in temperature. An approximate c
alculation is, threshold voltage drops (-4mV) per degree for heavily doped subst
rate & (-2mV) for lightly doped ones.
Threshold Voltage Equation
Threshold voltage, VT = VT-MOS + Vfb
// an important
equation
Where VT-MOS is the ideal threshold voltage of an ideal MOS device
Vfb is called Flat-band voltage
Now,
VT-MOS = 2 fb + (Qb/COX)
Where: fb = Bulk Potential (based on doping) = (kT/q) . ln (NA/Ni)
k = Boltzmann s Constant (1.380 x 10
23 Joules/Degree Kelv
in)
T = Temperature in Kelvin
q = Charge of electron (1.602 x 10 19 Coulomb)
ln = Natural Logarithm
NA = Carrier density/concentration in the doped (extrins
ic) semiconductor substrate
Ni = Carrier density/concentration in the undoped Silico
n = 1.45 x 1010 cm 3 at 300 degree Kelvin
Qb = Bulk Charge = v 2 esi q NA 2 fb
//whole root
And
Vfb = fms
(Qfc / Cox)