Concepts in VLSI Design

What is a transistor (Digital Definition)

A Switch!
VGS V T Ron S D

An MOS Transistor
|VGS|

The NMOS Transistor

Threshold Voltage: Concept

S + VGS G D

n+

n+

n-channel p-substrate B

Depletion Region

Transistor in Linear
VGS S G n+ VDS D n+ L x ID

V(x)

p-substrate B

MOS transistor and its bias conditions

Transistor in Saturation
VGS VDS > VGS - VT D

G S n+
-

VGS - VT

n+

Pinch-off

Current-Voltage Relations Long-Channel Device

Current-Voltage Relations
6 x 10
-4

VGS= 2.5 V

Resistive

Saturation

VGS= 2.0 V

VDS = VGS - VT
VGS= 1.5 V

Quadratic Relationship

ID (A)

VGS= 1.0 V

0.5

1 V DS (V)

1.5

2.5

Velocity Saturation
( Deep sub micron Era)

u n ( m /s)

usat = 105
Constant velocity

Constant mobility (slope = )

xc = 1.5

x (V/m)

Perspective
ID
Long-channel device VGS = VDD Short-channel device

V DSAT

VGS - V T

VDS

ID versus VGS
6
5 4
I D (A)

x 10

-4

x 10 2.5

-4

quadratic

linear
1.5
ID (A)

3 2 1

0.5

quadratic
0.5 1
VGS(V)

0 0

1.5

2.5

0 0

0.5

1
VGS(V)

1.5

2.5

Long Channel

Short Channel

A unified model for manual analysis

A PMOS Transistor
0 x 10
-4

VGS = -1.0V
-0.2 VGS = -1.5V -0.4
ID (A)

-0.6

VGS = -2.0V

Assume all variables negative!

-0.8

VGS = -2.5V

-1 -2.5

-2

-1.5
VDS (V)

-1

-0.5

MOS Capacitances
G

CGS S

CGD D

CSB

CGB

CDB

The Gate Capacitance

Poly silicon gate

Source n+ xd Ld Top view xd W

Drain n+ Gate-bulk overlap

Gate oxide tox

n+

L Cross section

n+

Gate Capacitance
G CGC S D S G CGC D S G CGC D

Cut-off

Resistive

Saturation

Most important regions in digital design: saturation and cut-off

Diffusion Capacitance
Channel-stop implant N A1 Side wall W

Source ND
Bottom

xj

Side wall LS

Channel Substrate N A

Sub-Threshold Region (MOS now a BJT)

10
-2

Linear
10
-4

10
ID (A)

-6

Quadratic

CD I D ~ I 0e , n 1 Cox

qVGS nkT

10

-8

10

-10

Exponential VT
0.5 1
VGS (V)

10

-12

1.5

2.5

Fabrication

For a great tour through the IC manufacturing process and its different steps, check

http://www.fullman.com/semiconductors/semico nductors.html

CMOS Process at a Glance

Define active areas Etch and fill trenches

Implant well regions

Deposit and pattern polysilicon layer

Implant source and drain regions and substrate contacts

Create contact and via windows Deposit and pattern metal layers

Inverter Layout
VDD

PMOS In Out NMOS

Metal Thick field oxide p+ n+ n+ p substrate p+ n well p+ n+

Fabrication Steps

Start with blank wafer (typically p-type where NMOS is created) First step will be to form the n-well (where PMOS would reside)

Cover wafer with protective layer of SiO2 (oxide) Remove oxide layer where n-well should be built Implant or diffuse n dopants into exposed wafer to form nwell Strip off SiO2

p substrate

Oxidation

Grow SiO2 on top of Si wafer

900 1200 C with H2O or O2 in oxidation furnace

SiO 2

p substrate

Photoresist

Photo resist Photoresist is a light-sensitive organic polymer Property changes where exposed to light Two types of photo resists (positive or negative) Positive resists can be removed if exposed to UV light Negative resists cannot be removed if exposed to UV light
Photoresist

SiO 2

p substrate

Lithography

Expose photoresist to Ultra-violate (UV) light through the n-well mask Strip off exposed photo resist with chemicals

Photoresist SiO 2

p substrate

Etch

Etch oxide with hydrofluoric acid (HF) Only attacks oxide where resist has been exposed N-well pattern is transferred from the mask to silicon-di-oxide surface; creates an opening to the silicon surface

Photoresist SiO 2

p substrate

Strip Photoresist

Strip off remaining photoresist

Use mixture of acids called piranah etch

Necessary so resist doesnt melt in next step

SiO 2

p substrate

N-well

N-well is formed with diffusion or ion implantation Diffusion Place wafer in furnace with arsenic-rich gas Heat until As atoms diffuse into exposed Si Ion Implanatation Blast wafer with beam of As ions Ions blocked by SiO2, only enter exposed Si SiO SiO2 shields (or masks) areas which remain pn well type
2

Strip Oxide

Strip off the remaining oxide using HF Subsequent steps involve similar series of steps

n well p substrate

Poly silicon (self-aligned gate technology)

Deposit very thin layer of gate oxide < 20 (6-7 atomic layers) Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of silicon layer Place wafer in furnace with Silane gas (SiH4) Forms many small crystals called polysilicon Heavily doped to be good conductor

Polysilicon Thin gate oxide n well p substrate

Self-Aligned Process

Use gate-oxide/poly silicon and masking to expose where n+ dopants should be diffused or implanted N-diffusion forms nMOS source, drain, and n-well contact

n well p substrate

N-diffusion/implantation

Pattern oxide and form n+ regions Self-aligned process where gate blocks n-dopants Polysilicon is better than metal for self-aligned gates because it doesnt melt during later processing

n+ Diffusion

n well p substrate

N-diffusion/implantation cont.

Historically dopants were diffused Usually high energy ion-implantation used today But n+ regions are still called diffusion

n+

n+ n well p substrate

n+

P-Diffusion/implantation

Similar set of steps form p+ diffusion regions for PMOS source and drain and substrate contact
p+ Diffusion

p+

n+

n+ p substrate

p+ n well

p+

n+

Contacts

Now we need to wire together the devices Cover chip with thick field oxide (FO) Etch oxide where contact cuts are needed

Contact

Thick field oxide p+ n+ n+ p substrate p+ n well p+ n+

Metalization

Sputter on aluminum over whole wafer Gold is used in newer technology Pattern to remove excess metal, leaving wires

Metal

Metal Thick field oxide p+ n+ n+ p substrate p+ n well p+ n+

CMOS INVERTER
VDD
V DD V DD Rp

PMOS In Out NMOS

Rn V out V out

V in 5 V DD

V in 5 0

CMOS Inverter VTC

Vout NMOS off PMOS res NMOS s at PMOS res NMOS sat PMOS sat NMOS res PMOS sat

VDD

2.5

PMOS In Out NMOS

NMOS res PMOS off 2.5 Vin

0.5

1.5

0.5

1.5

CMOS Inverter Propagation Delay

VDD

tpHL = f(R on.CL) = 0.69 RonCL

Vout Vout CL Ron
1

ln(0.5)

VDD

0.5 0.36

Vin = V DD RonCL
t

Transient Response
3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 -0.5 0

?
tp = 0.69 CL (Reqn+Reqp)/2
tpLH tpHL

Vout(V)

0.5

1 t (sec)

1.5

2 x 10

2.5
-10

Design for Performance

Keep capacitances small Increase transistor sizes

watch out for self-loading!

Increase VDD (???)

Delay as a function of VDD

5.5 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.8

tp(normalized)

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.2

2.4

DD

(V)

Delay as a function of Device Sizing

3.8 3.6 3.4 3.2 3 2.8 2.6 2.4 2.2 2 2 4 6 8 S 10 12 14 x 10
-11

(for fixed load)

Self-loading effect: Intrinsic capacitances dominate

tp(sec)

Where Does Power Go in CMOS?

Dynamic Power Consumption
Charging and Discharging Capacitors

Short Circuit Currents

Short Circuit Path between Supply Rails during Switching

Leakage
Leaking diodes and transistors

Dynamic Power Dissipation

Vdd

Vin

Vout

CL

2 dd L 2 dd

Energy/transition = C * V Power = Energy/transition * f = C * V

*f

Short Circuit Currents

Vd d

Vin CL

Vout

0.15

IVDD (mA)

0.10

0.05

0.0

1.0

2.0 3.0 Vin (V)

4.0

5.0

Leakage
Vd d

Vout

Drain Junction Leakage Sub-Threshold Current

Sub-threshold current one of most compelling issues Sub-Threshold Current Dominant Factor in low-energy circuit design!

Principles for Power Reduction

Prime choice: Reduce voltage!

Recent years have seen an acceleration in supply voltage reduction Design at very low voltages still open question (0.6 0.9 V by 2010!)

Reduce switching activity Reduce physical capacitance

Goals of Technology Scaling

Make things cheaper:

Want to sell more functions (transistors) per chip for the same money Build same products cheaper, sell the same part for less money Price of a transistor has to be reduced

But also want to be faster, smaller, lower power

Static CMOS Circuit

At every point in time (except during the switching transients) each gate output is connected to either VDD or Vss via a low-resistive path.
The outputs of the gates assume at all times the value of the Boolean function, implemented by the circuit (ignoring, once again, the transient effects during switching periods).

This is in contrast to the dynamic circuit class, which relies on temporary storage of signal values on the capacitance of high impedance circuit nodes.

Static Complementary CMOS

VDD In1 In2 InN In1 In2 InN PMOS only F(In1,In2,InN) PDN

PUN

NMOS only

PUN and PDN are dual logic networks

Threshold Drops
PUN VDD
S

VDD
D

VDD
D

0 VDD CL

VGS

0 VDD - VTn CL VDD |VTp|

PDN
D

VDD 0

VGS

VDD
S

CL

CL

Example Gate: NAND

Complex CMOS Gate

B A C D OUT = D + A (B + C) A D B C

CMOS Properties

Full rail-to-rail swing; high noise margins Logic levels not dependent upon the relative device sizes; ratioless Always a path to Vdd or Gnd in steady state; low output impedance Extremely high input resistance; nearly zero steady-state input current No direct path steady state between power and ground; no static power dissipation Propagation delay function of load capacitance and resistance of transistors

Delay Dependence on Input Patterns

3 2.5 2

A=B=10 A=1 0, B=1 A=1, B=10

Input Data Pattern

Delay (psec)

A=B=01 A=1, B=01

A= 01, B=1 A=B=10

67 64
61 45

Voltage [V]

1.5 1

0.5 0

A=1, B=10
0 100 200 300 400

80
81

-0.5

A= 10, B=1

time [ps]

Fast Complex Gates: Design Technique 1

Transistor sizing

as long as fan-out capacitance dominates

Progressive sizing
InN
MN

CL

Distributed RC line M1 > M2 > M3 > > MN (the fet closest to the output is the smallest) Can reduce delay by more than 20%; decreasing gains as technology shrinks

In3 In2 In1

M3 M2 M1

C3 C2 C1

Fast Complex Gates: Design Technique 2

Transistor ordering
critical path critical path 01 In1 M3 In2 1 M2 In3 1 M1

In3 1 M3
In2 1 M2 In1 M1 01

charged CL
C2 charged C1 charged

charged CL
C2 discharged C1 discharged

delay determined by time to discharge CL, C1 and C2

delay determined by time to discharge CL

Summary

It was a big talk At last it finished Now I Want to enjoy Sunday