Design of CMOS Transistors to Maximize Circuit FOM Using a Coupled Process and Mixed-Mode Simulation Methodology

Calibrated process and device CMOS modules were integrated into a mixed-mode simulation setup to study the circuit figure of merit (FOM). Switching delay from typical two-input NAND, two-input NOR, and inverter circuits built and simulated in the device simulator Dessis, including both intra and intercell capacitances and resistances show strong dependence on the drain-induced barrier lowering and associated short-channel electrostatics. The analysis presented in this letter identifies, for a given set of leakage and process constraints, an optimal gate length$(L_g)$that maximizes circuit FOM. The analysis also highlights, for the first time, that the optimal$L_g$for maximizing circuit FOM is much longer than that required for maximizing the device performance. The optimal$L_g$for maximum circuit FOM is determined by a complex tradeoff between reduced capacitance, increased short-channel effect, and reduced mobility.     

Titanium nitride local interconnect technology for VLSI

This paper reports on how the self-aligned titanium disilicide process, normally used to simultaneously reduce MOS gate and junction sheet resistances to less than 1 Ω/square, has been extended to provide a layer of local interconnect for VLSI CMOS applications. The local interconnect level has been realized by utilization of the titanium nitride (TIN) layer that forms during the gate and junction silicidation process. Normally the TiN layer is discarded, but in this process the 0.1-µm-thick TiN layer is patterned and etched to provide local connections between polysilicon gates and n⁺and p⁺junctions, with a sheet resistance of less than 10 Ω/ square. This is accomplished without area consuming contacts or metal straps, and without any extra deposition steps. In addition to providing a VLSI version of the buried-contact process, the technology permits the widespread use of self-aligned contacts and minimum geometry junctions. These features significantly reduce parasitic capacitance with the result that the signal propagation delay through a 1-µm CMOS inverter is decreased by 20- 25 percent. The TiN local interconnect process has been successfully demonstrated by the fabrication of a pseudo-static CMOS VLSI memory with nearly half a million 1-µm transistors. A full CMOS 16K SRAM has also been fabricated in which the TiN layer performs the gate to n⁺and p⁺junction cross-coupling function. Application of the technology to achieve a high-density full CMOS SRAM cell, that makes a 256K SRAM chip size of less than 80K mils²feasible with 1-µm design rules, is also discussed.     

应用于变化条件下延时分析的反相器模型

 本文提出了一个考虑衬底耦合效应的门延迟模型.该模型在考虑衬底耦合效应下转换CMOS反相器的延迟为等效电阻和电容(RC)网络延迟.考虑工艺参数扰动和衬底耦合效应对门延时的影响,建立基于工艺扰动的简单开关电容门延迟模型,结合随机配置法和多项式的混沌展开法分析门延时.利用数值计算方法对本模型和分析方法进行验证,结果表明与HSPICE精确模型仿真结果的相对误差小于2％,证明本模型和分析方法的有效性.     

Ultralow resistance W/poly-Si gate CMOS technology usingamorphous-Si/TiN buffer layer

Advanced tungsten/pn-poly-Si gate CMOS devices with an ultralow sheet resistance of 1 Ω/sq. have been demonstrated using an amorphous-Si/TiN buffer layer. A low-resistivity tungsten film is formed by large grain size tungsten on an amorphous-silicon (a-Si) film. This result can be explained by the Mayadas-Shatzkes theory. After a source/drain annealing process, W/a-Si/TiN/pn-poly-Si systems become W/WSi_x/TiN/pn-poly-Si systems without impurity interdiffusion between the pn-poly-Si gate electrodes. The propagation delay time of a CMOS inverter ring oscillator with this novel gate electrode is considerably smaller than that with a cobalt-salicide film in a wider channel width     

Submicrometer-channel CMOS for low-temperature operation

A 0.5-µm-channel CMOS design optimized for liquid-nitrogen temperature operation is described. Thin gate oxide (12.5 nm) and dual polysilicon work functions (n⁺-poly gate for n-channel and p⁺-poly for p-channel transistors) are used. The power supply voltage is chosen to be 2.5 V based on performance, hot-carrier effects, and power dissipation considerations. The doping profiles of the channel and the background (substrate or well) are chosen to optimize the mobility, substrate sensitivity, and junction capacitance with minimum process complexity. The reduced supply voltage enables the use of silicided shallow arsenic and boron junctions, without any intentional junction grading, to control short-channel effects and to reduce the parasitic series resistance at 77 K. The same self-aligned silicide over the polysilicon gate electrode reduces the sheet resistance (as low as 1 Ω/sq at 77 K) and provides the strapping between the gates of the complementary transistors. The design has been demonstrated by a simple n-well/p-substrate CMOS process with very good device characteristics and ring-oscillator performance at 77 K.     

一种CMOS工艺离子敏场效应型晶体管的模型

采用CMOS工艺可以实现离子敏场效应型晶体管(ISFET),若在栅极氧化层之上保留多晶硅层,并通过引线使其与 外界的金属层相连作为悬浮的栅极,可实现悬浮栅结构ISFET.从ISFET的传感机理出发,根据表面基模型,利用HSPICE建 立了悬浮栅结构ISFET的物理模型.以该模型为研究对象,探讨了薄膜等效电阻、薄膜等效电...     

TFSOI complementary BiCMOS technology for low power applications

A Thin-Film-Silicon-On-Insulator Complementary BiCMOS (TFSOI CBiCMOS) technology has been developed for low power applications. The technology is based on a manufacturable, near-fully-depleted 0.5 μm CMOS process with the lateral bipolar devices integrated as drop-in modules for CBiCMOS circuits. The near-fully-depleted CMOS device design minimizes sensitivity to silicon thickness variation while maintaining the benefits of SOI devices. The bipolar device structure emphasizes use of a silicided polysilicon base contact to reduce base resistance and minimize current crowding effects. A split-oxide spacer integration allows independent control of the bipolar base width and emitter contact spacing. Excellent low power performance is demonstrated through low current ECL and low voltage, low power CMOS circuits. A 70 ps ECL gate delay at a gate current of 20 μA is achieved. This represents a factor of 3 improvement over bulk trench-isolated double-polysilicon self-aligned bipolar circuits. Similarly, CMOS gate delay shows a factor of 2 improvement over bulk silicon at a power supply voltage of 3.3 V. Finally, a 460 μW 1 GHz prescaler circuit is demonstrated using this technology     

薄膜亚微米CMOS／SOS工艺的开发及其器件的研制

本文较为详细地介绍了薄膜亚微米ＣＭＯＳ／ＳＯＳ工艺技术的开发过程，薄膜亚微米ＣＭＯＳ／ＳＯＳ工艺主要包括双固相外延，双层胶光刻形成亚微米细线条硅栅、Ｈ２－Ｏ２合成氧化薄栅氧化层以及快速退火等新的工艺技术，利用这套工艺成功地研制出了高性能薄膜来微米ＣＭＯＳ／ＳＯＳ器件和门延迟时间仅为１７７ｐｓ的１９级ＣＭＯＳ／ＳＯＳ环形振荡器，与厚膜器件相比，薄膜全耗尺器件和电路的性能得到了明显的提高。     

Shielding effect of on-chip interconnect inductance

Interconnect inductance introduces a shielding effect which decreases the effective capacitance seen by the driver of a circuit, reducing the gate delay. A model of the effective capacitance of an RLC load driven by a CMOS inverter is presented. The interconnect inductance decreases the gate delay and increases the time required for the signal to propagate across an interconnect, reducing the overall delay to drive an RLC load. Ignoring the line inductance overestimates the circuit delay, inefficiently oversizing the circuit driver. Considering line inductance in the design process saves gate area, reducing dynamic power dissipation. Average reductions in power of 17% and area of 29% are achieved for example circuits. An accurate model for a CMOS inverter and an RLC load is used to characterize the propagation delay. The accuracy of the delay model is within an average error of less than 9% as compared to SPICE.     

A metal/polysilicon damascene gate technology for RF power LDMOSFETs

This letter describes a metal/polysilicon damascene gate technology for RF power LDMOSFETs. We compare the performance of SOI LDMOSFETs with metal/polysilicon damascene gates to that of identical devices with n/sup +/ polysilicon gates. The gate sheet resistance of the metal/polysilicon gate was 0.2 /spl Omega//sq. This very low sheet resistance greatly improved f/sub max/ and peak PAE, especially for the wide gate fingers that are critical in RF power applications. With a 140 /spl mu/m gate finger width, f/sub max/ was improved from 5 GHz to 25 GHz, and peak PAE at 1.9 GHz was improved from 12% to 52%.     

A standby current limited performance figure of merit for deepsub-micron CMOS

The delay time of an inverter or NAND chain at a gate length yielding equal standby current and active current is used as the definition of a maximum Figure of Merit (FOM), FOM_max. The circuit power that occurs under this condition of equal standby and active currents is an equally important measure. This FOM_max technique is particularly useful in characterizing complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies in the deep submicron regime. A knowledge of the exact value of gate length is not necessary to apply the FOM_max methodology. For a fixed supply voltage and gate oxide thickness, node capacitance and transistor drive, and off currents determine the value of FOM_max. The value of gate length at which FOM_max occurs decreases with decreasing supply voltage. FOM_max analysis is applied to the comparison of CMOS technologies using gate oxide thicknesses of 5.7 and 3.8 nm     

Silicon-gate n-well CMOS process by full ion-implantation technology

A silicon-gate n-well CMOS process for an application of digital circuits operated by TTL compatible supply voltage was developed. Full ion-implantation technology, a new photolithography technique, n⁺-doped polysilicon gate which contain no boron impurities, and thin gate oxide of 65 nm can realize CMOS circuits of 2-µm gate length. Average impurity concentrations measured from substrate bias effect of MOSFET's and junction depth are in good agreement with those expected from impurity profiles calculated by a simple diffusion theory. So, the process design for CMOS circuits operated by any supply voltage is possible, by adjusting threshold voltages. The process can easily be extended to n-MOS/CMOS process (E/D MOS and CMOS on the same chip), if a photomask to fabricate depletion-type n-MOSFET's is provided.     

A subnanosecond 8K-gate CMOS/SOS gate array

An 8370-gate CMOS/SOS gate array has been developed using a Si-gate CMOS/SOS process with two-level metallization. The gate lengths of the transistors are 1.8 and 1.9 /spl mu/m for the n-channel and p-channel, respectively. Subnanosecond typical gate delay times have been obtained. Typical delay times of inverter, two-input NAND, and two-input NOR gates are 0.67, 0.87, and 0.99 ns, respectively, under a typical loading condition (three fan outs and 2 mm first metal). It is shown that ECL speed with CMOS power can be achieved in a system by using the CMOS/SOS gate array. Advantages of the SOS device on speed performance are also discussed.     

A high density CMOS inverter with stacked transistors

This paper describes a complete CMOS inverter, whose P-channel transistor is made from laser annealed polycrystalline silicon and is superimposed upon the N-channel transistor. The single gate is common to both transistors. The process is NMOS compatible and polysilicon transistors with channel lengths down to 4 micrometers have been made.     

Gate engineering for deep-submicron CMOS transistors

Gate depletion and boron penetration through thin gate oxide place directly opposing requirements on the gate engineering for advanced MOSFET's. In this paper, several important issues of deep-submicron CMOS transistor gate engineering are discussed. First, the impact of gate nitrogen implantation on the performance and reliability of deep-submicron CMOSFET's is investigated. The suppression of boron penetration is confirmed by the SIMS profiles, and is attributed mainly to the diffusion retardation effect in bulk polysilicon by the presence of nitrogen. The MOSFET' I-V characteristics, MOS capacitor quasi-static C-V curves, SIMS profiles, gate sheet resistance, and oxide Q_bd are compared for different nitrogen implant conditions. A nitrogen dose of 5×10¹⁵ cm^-2 is found to be the optimum choice at an implant energy of 40 keV in terms of the overall electrical behavior of CMOSFET's. Under optimum design, gate nitrogen implantation is found to be effective in eliminating boron penetration without degrading performance of either p⁺ gate p-MOSFET and n⁺ gate n-MOSFET. Secondly, the impact of gate microstructure on the performance of deep-submicron CMOSFET's is discussed by comparing poly and amorphous silicon gate deposition technologies. Thirdly, poly-Si_1-xGe_x is presented as a superior alternative gate material. Higher dopant activation efficiently results in higher active-dopant concentration near the gate/SiO₂ interface without increasing the gross dopant concentration. This plus the lower annealing temperature suppress the dopant penetration. Phosphorus-implanted poly-Si_1-xGe_x is gate is compared with polysilicon gate in this study     

Dual material gate silicon on insulator junctionless MOSFET for low power mixed signal circuits

In this research paper, demonstrates, the logic performance of n and p channel complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits implemented with dual material gate silicon on insulator junctionless transistor (DMG SOI JLT). The logic performance of a CMOS circuit is evaluated in terms of static power dissipation, voltage transfer characteristic, propagation delay and noise margin. The gate capacitance is less as compared to gate capacitance of DMG SOI transistor in saturation. The power dissipation for CMOS inverter of DMG SOI JLT is improved by 25% as compared to DMG SOI transistor. The DMG SOI JLT common source amplifier has 1.25 times amplification as that of DMG SOI transistor. The noise margin of DMG SOI JLT CMOS inverter is improved by 23% as compared to the DMG SOI transistor CMOS inverter. The NAND gate static power dissipation of DMG SOI JLT is found improved imperically as compared to DMG SOI transistor for various channel length. The improvement obtained is 53% for 20nm, 46% for 30nm and 34% for 40nm respectively. Static power dissipation of DMG SOI JLT inverter is reduced by 3% as compared to junction transistor inverter at channel length of 30nm.     

Effects of thermal processes after silicidation on the performanceof TiSi2/polysilicon gate device

The effects of thermal processes after silicidation on the gate depletion, threshold voltage (V_th) shift, drive current, and sheet resistance of TiSi₂/polysilicon (Ti-polycide) gate devices are evaluated. The dopant depletion of the polysilicon film, which is known to increase the V_th and to degrade the drive-current, increases with increasing temperature of the post-thermal process. However, the V_th roll-off characteristic in nMOSFETs is enhanced with increasing temperature. Furthermore, the drive-current is significantly degraded by the gate reoxidation process. The sheet resistance of the Ti-polycide gate increases with gate reoxidation as well as with increased post-thermal processes     

Development of the self-aligned titanium silicide process for VLSI applications

A manufacturable self-aligned titanium silicide process which simultaneously silicides both polysilicon gates and junctions has been developed for VLSI applications. The process produces silicided gates and junctions with sheet resistances of 1.0-2.0 Ω/square. This paper describes the application of the self-aligned titanium silicide process to NMOS VLSI circuits of the 64K SRAM class with 1-µm gate lengths. Comparison of circuit yield data and test structure parameters from devices fabricated with and without the silicidation process has demonstrated that the self-aligned silicide process is compatible with both VLSI NMOS and CMOS technologies. The self-aligned titanium silicide process has some very significant manufacturing advantages over the more conventional deposited silicide on polysilicon technologies. In particular, the problems associated with etching and depositing a polycide gate stack are eliminated with the self-aligned process since the polycide etch is replaced with a much more straightforward polysilicon only etch. As gate lengths, gate oxide thicknesses, and source-drain junction depths are scaled, linewidth control, etch selectivity to the underlying gate oxide, and cross-sectional profile control become more critical. The stringent etch requirements are more easily satisfied with the self-aligned silicide process.     

The Formation of Shallow Low-Resistance Source-Drain Regions for VLSI CMOS Technologies

As a result of MOS device scaling, very shallow source-drain structures are needed to minimize short-channel effects in 1-/spl mu/m transistors. This can be readily achieved with highly doped arsenic regions for NMOS devices but is more difficult using boron for PMOS devices. In addition, shallow junctions suffer from inherently high sheet resistances due to dopant solid solubility limitations. This paper proposes an improved CMOS source-drain technology to overcome both these problems. The technique employs amorphizing silicon implants prior to dopant implantation to eliminate ion channeling and platinum silicidation to substantially reduce sheet resistance. Counterdoping of the p/sup +/ regions by high-concentration arsenic implantation is used to enable both NMOS and PMOS devices to be manufactured with only one photolithographic masking operation. Using this technique, n/sup +/ and p/sup +/ junction depths are 0.22 /spl mu/ and of 8 /spl Omega/sq. sheet resistance. By creating oxide sidewalls on gate conductors, polysilicon can be silicided simultaneously with diffusions. Results of extensive materials analysis are discussed in detail. The technique has been incorporated into a VLSI CMOS process schedule at our laboratories.     

The formation of shallow low-resistance source—Drain regions for VLSI CMOS technologies

As a result of MOS device scaling, very shallow source-drain structures are needed to minimize short-channel effects in 1-µm transistors. This can be readily achieved with highly doped arsenic regions for NMOS devices but is more difficult using boron for PMOS devices. In addition, shallow junctions suffer from inherently high sheet resistances due to dopant solid solubility limitations. This paper proposes an improved CMOS source-drain technology to overcome both these problems. The technique employs amorphizing silicon implants prior to dopant implantation to eliminate ion channeling and platinum silicidation to substantially reduce sheet resistance. Counterdoping of the p⁺regions by high-concentration arsenic implantation is used to enable both NMOS and PMOS devices to be manufactured with only one photolithographic masking operation. Using this technique, n⁺and p⁺junction depths are 0.22 µm and of 8 Ω/sq. sheet resistance. By creating oxide sidewalls on gate conductors, polysilicon can be silicided simultaneously with diffusions. Results of extensive materials analysis are discussed in detail. The technique has been incorporated into a VLSI CMOS process schedule at our laboratories.