IGFETS

Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistors

Monika Suman
11406749, RE2407A19, E2407, ECE 563 SOLID STATE DEVICES
Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering
Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India
suman.monika9@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

An insulated- gate field effect transistor or IGFET

is related term almost synonymous with MOSFET
and MOSFET is used here to describe key aspects
of IGFET behaviour. Insulated-gate field effect
transistor having one or more semiconductor gate
electrodes.The topic is introduced by a physical
description of MOSFET operation, which
identifies the linear and saturation operating
regimes. A simple analytical model is developed
from this, yielding expressions for important
parameters such as threshold voltage, saturation
voltage and carrier mobility. These are extensively
used in TFT analysis.

The concept of an insulated gate field-effect

transistor (IGFET) is related to MOSFET. This class
of transistor is usually referred to as a metal oxide
semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET),
which is the earliest and still the most common type,
although insulation types other than metal oxide are
sometimes used so that IGFET is more accurate than
MOSFET for some devices. We begin with the
inverting amplifier configuration, with a source
resistor and the gate bias provided by a voltage
divider from the main supply voltage. The goal is to
understand and design an amplifier for maximum
voltage swing on output, or for small signal with
minimum power or lowest noise. We use one model
for our biasing analysis and a separate model for our
signal model. Our biasing analysis model is a simple
constant voltage drop for the gate-source junction.

A more rigorous analysis is presented to explicitly

include the role of substrate doping, and its effect
upon saturation voltage. These descriptions are
valid for the on-state regime, in which the gate
bias, VG, is greater than the threshold voltage, VT.
A further operating regime is described for
VG < VT, which is referred to as the sub-threshold
regime. In this regime, the current increases
exponentially with gate bias, and is characterised
by the sub-threshold slope. This is another
concept, and parameter, which is widely used in
the analysis of TFT behaviour. Finally, the role of
film thickness, in thin film devices, in modifying
the standard expressions for threshold voltage and
saturation voltage is presented.

The h-parameter value of input resistance is used

with the signal model but not with the bias model.
The h-parameter gate-drain current gain is used in
both the biasing analysis and signal models. The hparameter drain resistance is neglected here in both
models, as is the drain-gate feedback coupling
coefficient.

Our biasing analysis begins with the use Kirchhoffs

laws

To solve the bias model. The load line is presented

and we include here the concept of the use of the
drain and source resisters to limit transistor power
dissipation. The bias circuit analyze is concludes
with the Thvenin equivalent circuits for the three
transistor terminals The signal analysis uses a
different model that omits DC voltage sources and
includes the gate terminal input resistance. Input and
output capacitive coupling is also included in the
signal model. We conclude with a section on design
of MOSFET inverting amplifiers. This analysis
begins with simplification of the equations developed
from the biasing and signal models by looking at the
engineering approximations, and the design
constraints required to support the accuracy and
usefulness of these approximations. Then these
approximations are used in a simple step-by-step
process of designing a robust MOSFET amplifier in
an inverting configuration. The source follower is
supported by the models and analyses prepared for
the inverting amplifier. The biasing and design of a
robust source follower concludes the design section.
Types of IGFET
There are several types of insulated gate field-effect
transistors (IGFETs) in common use. The early term
metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor
(MOSFET) is still in use, and MOSFET is usually
acceptable as a generic term for IGFETs. The metal
oxide, and the insulation in the IGFET, is the
insulating material between the gate terminal and the
substrate between the source and drain terminals.
This insulator must have very low leakage, of course,
but another requirement for good performance of the
transistor is that the dielectric constant of the material
must be very high.
The first IGFET technology used a layer of metal
oxide that could be formed as a logical step in the
fabrication process. Techniques have been developed
that can apply layers of sapphire and other materials
as the insulator that improve MOS in insulation
resistance, peak voltage without breakdown, and
dielectric constant.
Junction field-effect transistors (JFETs) are, strictly
speaking, not IGFETs because the gate terminal is
separated from the substrate by the depleted region of
a semiconductor, and the gate is connected to the

substrate across this reverse-biased junction.

However, JFETs can be analyzed using the
techniques in this report, as modified as appropriate
by noting that the saturation current of this diode
does exist and that the gate terminal is not truly
insulated. JFETs are always depletion mode FETs
because the junction must be reverse biased, so the
transition volt age for JFETs is always negative.
The metaloxidesemiconductor
field-effect
transistor (MOSFET) is a type of IGFET used for
amplifying or switching electronic signals. Although
the MOSFET is a four-terminal device with source,
gate, drain, and body terminals, the body of the
MOSFET is often connected to the source terminal,
making it a three-terminal device like other fieldeffect transistors. Because these two terminals are
normally connected to each other internally, only
three terminals appear in electrical diagrams. The
MOSFET is by far the most common transistor in
both digital and analog circuits, though the bipolar
junction transistor was at one time much more
common.
The insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET),
also known as the metal oxide field effect
transistor (MOSFET), is a derivative of the field
effect transistor (FET). Today, most transistors are of
the MOSFET type as components of digital
integrated circuits. Though discrete BJT's are more
numerous than discrete MOSFET's. The MOSFET
transistor count within an integrated circuit may
approach hundreds of a million. The dimensions of
individual MOSFET devices are under a micron,
decreasing every 18 months. Much larger MOSFET's
are capable of switching nearly 100 amperes of
current at low voltages; some handle nearly 1000 V at
lower currents. These devices occupy a good fraction
of a square centimeter of silicon. MOSFET's find
much wider application than JFET's. However,
MOSFET power devices are not as widely used as
bipolar junction transistors at this time.
The MOSFET has source, gate, and drain terminals
like the FET. However, the gate lead does not make a
direct connection to the silicon compared with the
case for the FET. The gate bears a resemblance to
a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitor. When
charged, the plates of the capacitor take on the charge

polarity of the respective battery terminals. The lower

plate is P-type silicon from which electrons are
repelled by the negative (-) battery terminal toward
the oxide, and attracted by the positive (+) top plate.
This excess of electrons near the oxide creates an
inverted (excess of electrons) channel under the
oxide. This channel is also accompanied by a
depletion region isolating the channel from the bulk
silicon substrate.
In Figure (a) the MOS capacitor is placed between a
pair of N-type diffusions in a P-type substrate. With
no charge on the capacitor, no bias on the gate, the Ntype diffusions, the source and drain, remain
electrically isolated.

The MOSFET described above in Figure above is

known as an enhancement mode MOSFET. The nonconducting, off, channel is turned on by enhancing
the channel below the gate by application of a bias.
This is the most common kind of device. The other
kind of MOSFET will not be described here. See the
Insulated-gate field-effect transistor chapter for
the depletion mode device.
The MOSFET, like the FET, is a voltage controlled
device. A voltage input to the gate controls the flow
of current from source to drain. The gate does not
draw a continuous current. Though, the gate draws a
surge of current to charge the gate capacitance.
The cross-section of an N-channel discrete MOSFET
is shown in Figure below (a). Discrete devices are
usually optimized for high power switching. The
N+ indicates that the source and drain are heavily Ntype doped. This minimizes resistive losses in the
high current path from source to drain. The
N- indicates light doping. The P-region under the
gate, between source and drain can be inverted by
application of a positive bias voltage. The doping
profile is a cross-section, which may be laid out in a
serpentine pattern on the silicon die. This greatly
increases the area, and consequently, the current
handling ability.

N-channel and p-channel MOSFET (enhancement

type and depletion type)
A positive bias applied to the gate, charges the
capacitor (the gate). The gate atop the oxide takes on
a positive charge from the gate bias battery. The Ptype substrate below the gate takes on a negative
charge. An inversion region with an excess of
electrons forms below the gate oxide. This region
now connects the source and drain N-type regions,
forming a continuous N-region from source to drain.
Thus, the MOSFET, like the FET is a unipolar
device. One type of charge carrier is responsible for
conduction. This example is an N-channel MOSFET.
Conduction of a large current from source to drain is
possible with a voltage applied between these
connections. A practical circuit would have a load in
series with the drain battery in Figure.

In enhancement mode MOSFETs, a voltage drop

across
the
oxide
induces
a conducting
channel between the source and drain contacts
via the field effect. The term "enhancement mode"
refers to the increase of conductivity with increase in
oxide field that adds carriers to the channel, also
referred to as the inversion layer. The channel can
contain electrons (called an nMOSFET or nMOS), or
holes (called a pMOSFET or pMOS), opposite in
type to the substrate, so nMOS is made with a p-type
substrate, and pMOS with an n-type substrate.
There are depletion-mode MOSFET devices, which
are
less
commonly
used
than
the
standard enhancement-mode devices
already
described. These are MOSFET devices that are doped
so that a channel exists even with zero voltage from
gate to source. To control the channel, a negative
voltage is applied to the gate (for an n-channel

device), depleting the channel, which reduces the

current flow through the device. In essence, the
depletion-mode device is equivalent to a normally
closed (on) switch, while the enhancement-mode
device is equivalent to a normally open (off) switch.

integrated MOSFET transistors on each device,

providing the basic switching functions required to
implement logic gates and data storage. Discrete
devices are widely used in applications such
as switch mode power supplies, variable frequency
drives and other power electronics applications where
each device may be switching hundreds or thousands
of watts. Radio-frequency amplifiers up to
the UHF spectrum use MOSFET transistors as analog
signal and power amplifiers. Radio systems also use
MOSFETs as oscillators, or mixers to convert
frequencies. MOSFET devices are also applied in
audio-frequency power amplifiers for public address
systems, sound
reinforcement and
home
and
automobile sound systems.
ADVANTAGES OF MOSFETs

V-I CHARECTERSTICS OF IGFET

Basic MOSFET is divided into three region: cut off
region, when no drain current flow. The triode region,
in which the gate voltage increase the threshold
voltage but the drain voltage is low and the drain
current is significant function of drain voltage. The
constant current region, in drain voltage is
sufficiently high that the drain current no longer
increases with the drain voltage.

1. Very high input resistance.

2. Very low gate current is required.
3. Better thermal stability.
4. Small size.
5. Low internal noise.
6. Can operate at very high frequencies.
REFRENCES
[1]Introduction to electric and circuit, 7 th Edition,
Richard C. Dorf and James A Svoboda
[2]Basic Electrical and Electronics Engg. 3rd Edition,
J. S. Katre.
[3] www.allaboutcircuits.com

APPLICATIONS
Digital integrated circuit such as microprocessors and
memory devices contain thousands to millions of

[4] Microelectronic circuits and devices, 2nd Edition,

Mark N. Horenstein(1996).