A new LDD structure: total overlap with polysilicon spacer (TOPS)

The total overlap with polysilicon spacer (TOPS) structure, a fully overlapped lightly doped drain (LDD) structure, is discussed. The TOPS structure achieves full gate overlap of the lightly doped region with simple processing. TOPS devices have demonstrated superior performance and reliability compared to oxide-spacer LDD devices, with an order of magnitude advantage in current degradation under stress for the same initial current drive or 30% more drive for the same amount of degradation. TOPS devices also show a much smaller sensitivity to n^- dose variation than LDD devices. Gate-induced drain leakage is reported for the first time in fully overlapped LDD devices     

Graded-junction gate/n- overlapped LDD MOSFET structuresfor high hot-carrier reliability

A newly developed gate/n^- overlapped LDD MOSFET was investigated. The MOSFET was fabricated by an oblique rotating ion implantation technique. A formula for the impurity ion profile was derived to analyze the lowering of substrate current and improvement of the degradation caused by the hot-carrier effect of the MOSFET. It was proved that the impurity ion profile near the drain edge is remarkably graded in the directions along channel and toward substrate even just after the implantation, so that the maximum lateral electric field is relaxed as compared with conventional LDD MOSFETs. Also, the maximum point of the lateral electric field at the drain edge is located apart from the main path of the channel current     

Threshold voltage model for deep-submicrometer MOSFETs

The threshold voltage, V_th, of lightly doped drain (LDD) and non-LDD MOSFETs with effective channel lengths down to the deep-submicrometer range has been investigated. Experimental data show that in the very-short-channel-length range, the previously reported exponential dependence on channel length and the linear dependence on drain voltage no longer hold true. A simple quasi-two-dimensional model is used, taking into account the effects of gate oxide thickness, source/drain junction depth, and channel doping, to describe the accelerated V_th on channel length due to their lower drain-substrate junction built-in potentials. LDD devices also show less V_th dependence on drain voltage because the LDD region reduces the effective drain voltage. Based on consideration of the short-channel effects, the minimum acceptable length is determined     

Off-state gate current in n-channel MOSFETs with nitrided oxidegate dielectrics

The authors report on the off-state gate current (I_g ) characteristics of n-channel MOSFETs using thin nitrided oxide (NO) gate dielectrics prepared by rapid thermal nitridation at 1150°C for 10-300 s. New phenomena observed in NO devices are a significant I_g at drain voltages as low as 4 V and an I_g injection efficiency reaching 0.8, as compared to 8.5 V and 10^-7 in SiO₂ devices with gate dielectrics of the same thickness. Based on the drain bias and temperature dependence, it is proposed that I_g in MOSFETs with heavily nitrided oxide gate dielectrics arises from hot-hole injection, and the enhancement of gate current injection is due to the lowering of valence-band barrier height for hole emission at the NO/Si interface. The enhanced gate current injection may cause accelerated device degradation in MOSFETs. However, it also presents potential for device applications such as EPROM erasure     

Drain structure optimization for highly reliable deep submicrometern-channel MOSFET

A guideline for n^- fully gate overlapped (FOLD) structure design optimization has been studied. From the viewpoint of reliability, the greatest reduction in substrate current directly leads to the most reliable n^- design for the FOLD structure. The current path modulation phenomenon due to the trapped charge at the n ^- extension region dominates the hot-carrier induced characteristics change for conventional lightly doped drain (LDD) structure with side-wall spacer. This phenomenon is minimized in the FOLD structure due to its higher controllability of the gate electrode than the LDD structure at the n^- extension region. Furthermore, it was also confirmed that the 0.3 μm optimized FOLD structure can achieve high circuit performance at 3.3 V operation, maintaining hot-carrier resistance     

Performance and reliability aspects of FOND: a new deep submicronCMOS device concept

The electrical performance and the hot-carrier degradation behavior of a new type of fully overlapped device called FOND (Fully Overlapped Nitride-etch defined Device) is analyzed and compared to that of conventional LDD devices. Similar current driveability is found for the FOND devices compared to conventional LDD devices although in the FOND device significantly smaller concentrations are used for the lightly doped n^--regions. For the overlapped device, a higher gate and overlap capacitance is found, originating from a larger poly length and self-alignment of the junction implant to the poly. For identical voltage conditions, this is reflected in a somewhat lower ring oscillator speed, compared to the LDD case. Concerning reliability, it is shown that deep submicron FOND devices can easily exceed the lifetime of the conventional LDD devices by two orders of magnitude. Based on experimental and simulation results, this higher hot-carrier resistance is explained by a smaller hot-carrier generation and a lower sensitivity of the overlapped device to hot-carrier damage. For the nMOS transistors, the lower generation of damage is the result of the lower lateral electric field due to the low n^- concentration and the overlap of the polysilicon gate on the n^- region while the suppressed sensitivity is due to the complete overlap. Compared to LDD devices, the use of fully overlapped devices creates a wider process and reliability margin that can be used to optimize other electrical parameters     

An ITLDD CMOS process with self-aligned reverse-sequenceLDD/channel implantation

An advanced inverse-T LDD (ITLDD) CMOS process has been developed. This process features self-aligned lightly-doped-drain/channel implantation for improved hot-carrier protection. Selective polysilicon deposition is used to define the thick polysilicon gate regions with a thin polysilicon gate regions overlying the lightly doped n^- and p⁺ regions. Since the thick poly gate regions are defined by nitride sidewall spacers, optical lithography can be used to define sub-half-micrometer gate length MOSFETs. The LDD implants are performed after the n⁺ and p⁺ implants are annealed, resulting in MOSFET's with improved short-channel behavior due to the smaller lateral source/drain diffusion     

A self-aligned gate lightly doped drain (Al, Ga)As/GaAs MODFET

An asymmetrical lightly doped drain (LDD) (Al, Ga)As/GaAs modulation-doped FET (MODFET) structure with high drain-to-source and drain-to-gate breakdown voltages was fabricated. The LDD structure has a self-aligned lightly doped n^- region between the channel and a heavily doped n⁺ region at the drain, to reduce the electric field and impact ionization. The length of the lightly doped n ^- region on the drain side was varied from 0 to 1 μm. Drain-to-source breakdown voltage BV_ds improved from 4.6 to >10 V while the transconductance g_m remained unchanged. The drain-to-gate reverse breakdown voltage BV _dg increased from ≈7 to >20 V. The two breakdown mechanisms are believed to be independent. The LDD MODFET should find widespread application in circuits requiring high breakdown voltage such as high-speed analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and microwave power amplifiers     

An analytic saturation model for drain and substrate currents ofconventional and LDD MOSFETs

An analytic saturation model for conventional and lightly doped drain (LDD) MOSFETs is developed by using the pseudo-two-dimensional approximation in the channel and drain regions to obtain both the channel length modulation factor and the maximum electric field. Using the established I-V model in the linear region, the drain currents of conventional and LDD MOSFETs can be explicitly calculated. The substrate currents of conventional/LDD MOSFETs are calculated by using an existing simplified substrate current formula and the maximum electric field model. It is shown that the accuracy of the maximum electric field is acceptable for calculating the substrate currents of conventional/LDD MOSFETs. The parameters used in the model can be determined by the existing extraction methods and the optimization technique. The saturation model is shown to be valid for a wide range of channel lengths and bias conditions     

A coupled study by floating-gate and charge-pumping techniques ofhot carrier-induced defects in submicrometer LDD n-MOSFET's

The creation of defects by hot-carrier effect in submicrometer (0.85-μm) LDD n-MOSFETs is analyzed by the floating-gate and the charge-pumping techniques. It is emphasized that the floating-gate technique is an attractive tool for characterizing the oxide traps located in the drain-gate overlap region, near the oxide spacer of the LDD structures. This work gives new insight into the creation of acceptorlike oxide traps which are electrically active only after electron injection phases. These defects are generated in the whole stress gate bias range (from V_d/8 to V_d) by hot-hole and/or hot-electron injections, and their generation rates (10^-9 and 10^-2 for electron and hole injections, respectively) are one decade greater than for the interface state generation. Two-dimensional simulations show that they are mainly responsible for the I_d-V_g degradation of the LDD MOSFETs, and that the trap concentrations deduced from charge-pumping experiments are consistent with the I _d-V_g degradation     

Source-to-drain breakdown voltage improvement in ultrathin-film SOIMOSFET's using a gate-overlapped LDD structure

A gate-overlapped LDD structure was introduced to ultra-thin SOI MOSFET's in order to overcome the degradation in source-to-drain breakdown voltage (BVds) due to a parasitic bipolar action. By reductions in drain electric field and parasitic resistance at a source n^- region, the BVds was improved with almost the same current drivability as that in single drain structure. The behavior of the BVds on LDD n^- concentration was investigated by use of a numerical device simulator, and it was found that the electric field at a lower portion of the n^- region, which forms the current path, was relaxed effectively at an optimum n^- doping condition     

MOSFET drain engineering analysis for deep-submicrometerdimensions: a new structural approach

A new MOS transistor structural approach (hot-carrier-induced MOSFET) capable of substantially suppressing adverse hot-carrier effects, while maintaining the other desired performance and manufacturability characteristics of deep-submicrometer MOSFETs (L _gate⩽0.35 μm) is described. This structure is unique in having a lower doped N^- region located behind (or above) a very shallow, steeply profiled source/drain junction. In contrast, LDD types of MOSFETs have an N^- region with a more graded doping profile immediately adjacent to the channel region. The simulated characteristics of the HCS MOSFET structure indicate approximately one order of magnitude less substrate current in comparison to an LDD type of MOSFET whose structure and doping parameters are optimized for combined performance, reliability, and manufacturability. In terms of combined performance, reliability, and manufacturability, the HCS MOSFET should permit MOSFET devices to be more successfully scaled at deep-submicrometer dimensions     

Suppression of drain-current overshoot in SOI-MOSFETs using anultrathin SOI substrate

An n-channel SOI-MOSFET fabricated on a very thin (500 Å) SOI substrate exhibited no detectable drain-current overshoot for various gate turn-on pulses. The reason can be ascribed to the suppression of the floating substrate effect, brought about by the quick decay of excess holes     

Inverted thin-film transistors with a simple self-aligned lightlydoped drain structure

The I-V characteristics of inverted thin-film transistors (TFT) are studied. A simple lightly doped drain (LDD) structure is utilized to control the channel electric field at the drain junction and to improve the performance of the TFTs. The LDD region is self-aligned to the channel and the source/drain regions. It is created by a spacer around an oxide mask which exclusively defines the channel length L_ch. Experimental data show that the leakage current, subthreshold swing SS, saturation current, and on/off current ratio of the inverted TFTs are closed related to L_ch, L_LDD, the drain bias, gate voltage, and LDD dose. With a gate deposited at low temperature, a saturation current of ~1.25 μA at 5 V and a leakage current of ~0.03 pA per micrometer of channel width were achieved. The current ratio therefore exceeds seven orders of magnitude, with an SS of 380 mV/decade. At 3.3 V, the current ratio is ~7×10⁶     

A comprehensive study on p+ polysilicon-gate MOSFET'sinstability with fluorine incorporation

It is reported that fluorine can jeopardize p⁺-gate devices under moderate annealing temperatures. MOSFETs with BF₂ or boron-implanted polysilicon gates were processed identically except at gate implantation. Evidence of boron penetration through 12.5-nm oxide and a large quantity of negative charge penetration (10 ¹² cm^-2) by fluorine even at moderate annealing conditions is reported. The degree of degradation is aggravated as fluorine dose increases. A detailed examination of the I-V characteristics of PMOSFET with fluorine incorporated p⁺-gate revealed that the long gate-length device had abnormal abrupt turn-on I_d-V_g characteristics, while the submicrometer-gate-length devices appeared to be normal. The abnormal turn-on I_d-V_g characteristics associated with long-gate-length p⁺-gate devices vanished when the device was subjected to X-ray irradiation and/or to a high-voltage DC stressing at the source/drain. The C-V characteristics of MOS structures of various gate dopants, processing ambients, doping concentrations, and annealing conditions were studied. Based on all experimental results, the degradation model of p⁺-gate devices is presented. The incorporation of fluorine in the p⁺ gate enhances boron penetration through the thin gate oxide into the silicon substrate and creates negative-charge interface states. The addition of H/OH species into F-rich gate oxide will further aggravate the extent of F-enhanced boron penetration by annealing out the negative-charge interface states     

Disposable polysilicon LDD spacer technology

An advanced 0.5-μm CMOS disposable lightly doped drain (LDD) spacer technology has been developed. This 0.5-μm CMOS technology features surface-channel LDD NMOS and PMOS devices, n⁺/p⁺ poly gates, 125-A-thick gate oxide, and Ti-salicided source/drain/gate regions. Using only two masking steps, the NMOS and PMOS LDD spacers are defined separately to provide deep arsenic n⁺ regions for lower salicided junction leakage, while simultaneously providing shallow phosphorus n^- and boron p^- regions for improved device short-channel effects. Additionally, the process allows independent adjustment of the LDD and salicide spacers to optimize the LDD design while avoiding salicide bridging of source/drain to gate regions. The results indicate extrapolated DC hot-carrier lifetimes in excess of 10 years for a 0.3-μm electrical channel-length NMOS device operated at a power-supply voltage of 3.3 V     

Submicrometer device design for hot-electron reliability and performance

Hot-electron stressing effect on different lightly doped drain device (LDD), As/P, and conventional As source/drain device structures are investigated. Increasing the overlap between the gate and drain is found to reduce hot-electron degradation significantly when stressed under the same substrate current level. By increasing the gate-to-drain overlap, it is possible to design LDD and As/P devices with a shorter n-region and still have good hot-electron reliability. These devices have better current drive and are scalable down to the submicrometer region. The As/P device with a short n-region is a good candidate for a submicrometer VLSI device because of the simplicity in processing, the good device performance, and the low susceptibility to hot-electron degradation.     

Observation of mobility enhancement in ultrathin SOI MOSFETs

The mobility in n-channel SOI MOSFETs exhibits a significant increase as the SOI film becomes thinner than 1000 Å. At a 500 Å SOI thickness, the mobility values are distributed in the 700-1100 cm²/Vs range, which are obviously higher than the value in a bulk MOSFET having an identical doping concentration. The observed mobility enhancement has been explained by a decrease in the vertical electric field, associated with the complete depletion of the SOI film     

Design for suppression of gate-induced drain leakage in LDD MOSFETsusing a quasi-two-dimensional analytical model

A systematic study of gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) in single-diffusion drain (SD), lightly doped drain (LDD), and fully gate-overlapped LDD (GOLD) NMOSFETs is described. Design curves quantifying the GIDL dependence on gate oxide thickness, phosphorus dose, and spacer length are presented. In addition, a new, quasi-2-D analytical model is developed for the electric field in the gate-to-drain overlap region. This model successfully explains the observed GIDL dependence on the lateral doping profile of the drain. Also, a technique is proposed for extracting this lateral doping profile using the measured dependence of GIDL current on the applied substrate bias. Finally, the GIDL current is found to be much smaller in lightly doped LDD devices than in SD or fully overlapped LDD devices, due to smaller vertical and lateral electric fields. However, as the phosphorus dose approaches 10¹⁴/cm², the LDD and fully overlapped LDD devices exhibit similar GIDL current     

The effect of fluorine on MOSFET channel length

The effect of fluorine on MOS device channel length has been evaluated. Fluorine has been introduced into the transistor by self-aligned ion implantation after the lightly doped drain (LDD) implant. The impact of fluorine in the LDD region, and its effect on the electrically determined channel length (L_eff), has been examined. Measurements taken from 0.6-μm LDD MOSFETs show a significant dependence of the L_eff on fluorine implant dose. The n⁺ resistor also shows more width reduction compared to unfluorinated samples. The decrease in channel length reduction by adding fluorine in the LDD region may yield way to relieve short-channel effects for the continuous scaling of CMOS devices into the deep-submicrometer region