Optimized sensing scheme of DRAMs

The half-V_cc sensing scheme of CMOS dynamic RAMs (DRAMs) has been analyzed. It has been found that fluctuations of the cell-plate bias must be taken into account since they can degrade the sense signal. An improvement is possible by connecting the bit lines to the cell plate and its half-V_cc generator during precharge. Optimum performance of the sense amplifier is achieved if the PMOS and NMOS latches are activated simultaneously. The advantages are: (1) the sensitivity is improved due to the elimination of the offset contribution caused by unmatched capacitive loads; (2) the sensing speed is enhanced due to faster sense signal amplification; and (3) the peak current is reduced since the NMOS latch does not lower the voltage level of both bit line and reference bit line     

Circuit techniques for 1.5-3.6-V battery-operated 64-Mb DRAM

Circuit techniques for battery-operated DRAMs which cover supply voltages from 1.5 to 3.6 V (universal V_cc), as well as their applications to an experimental 64-Mb DRAM, are presented. The universal-V_cc DRAM concept features a low-voltage (1.5 V) DRAM core and an on-chip power supply unit optimized for the operation of the DRAM. A circuit technique for oxide-stress relaxation is proposed to improve high-voltage sustaining characteristics while only scaled MOSFETs are used in the entire chip. This technique increases sustaining voltage by about 1.5 V compared with conventional circuits and allows scaled MOSFETs to be used for the circuits, which can be operated from an external V_cc of up to 4 V. A two-way power supply scheme is proposed to suppress the internal voltage fluctuation within 10% when the DRAM is operated from external power supply voltages ranging from 1.5 to 3.6 V. An experimental 1.5-3.6-V 64-Mb DRAM is designed based on these techniques and fabricated by using 0.3-μm electron-beam lithography. An almost constant access time of 70 ns is obtained. This indicates that battery operation is a promising target for future DRAMs     

Numerical analysis of short-circuit safe operating area forp-channel and n-channel IGBTs

The mechanisms of destructive failure of an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) at short-circuit state are discussed. Results from two-dimensional numerical simulation of p-channel and n-channel IGBTs are presented. It is found that there are two types of destructive failure mechanisms: a secondary breakdown and a latchup. Which type is dominant in p-channel and n-channel IGBTs depends on an absolute value of forward voltage |V_CE|. At moderately low |V _CE|, the p-channel IGBT is destroyed by secondary breakdown, and the n-channel IGBT, by latchup. This is due to the difference of a type of flowing carrier crossing a base-collector junction of wide base transistor and ionization rates of electrons and holes     

A 1-Mbit BiCMOS DRAM using temperature-compensation circuittechniques

A temperature-compensation circuit technique for a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) with an on-chip voltage limiter is evaluated using a 1-Mb BiCMOS DRAM. It was found that a BiCMOS bandgap reference generator scheme yields an internal voltage immune from temperature and V_cc variation. Also, bipolar-transistor-oriented memory circuits, such as a static BiCMOS word driver, improve delay time at high temperatures. Furthermore, the BiCMOS driver proves to have better temperature characteristics than the CMOS driver. Finally, a 1-Mb BiCMOS DRAM using the proposed technique was found to have better temperature characteristics than the 1-Mb CMOS DRAM which uses similar techniques, as was expected. Thus, BiCMOS DRAMs have improved access time at high temperatures compared with CMOS DRAMs     

Voltage limiters for DRAMs with substrate-plate-electrode memorycells

To prevent substrate-plate-electrode (SPE) cell weakness due to substrate-bias voltage bounce, voltage limiters were applied to both the substrate and the sense-circuit supply source. A supply voltage V _CC bump test was introduced to evaluate their effectiveness. The voltage limiters have been implemented on an experimental 4-Mb DRAM. It was found that a wider operational margin, as compared to conventional DRAMs (without voltage limiters) having SPE cells, was achievable through the use of voltage limiters. These voltage limiters may be considered suitable for wide operational margin DRAMs with SPE cells. The substrate-bias voltage limiter, in particular, is more effective than the sense-circuit supply voltage limiter and offers a means of improving the operational margin of V_CC bump     

Decoded-source sense amplifier for high-density DRAMs

The decoded-source sense amplifier (DSSA) for high-speed, high-density DRAMs is discussed. To prevent clamping of the common-source node of the sense amplifier caused by bit-line discharge current, the DSSA has an additional latching transistor with a gate controlled by a column decoder. The DSSA has been successfully installed in a 4-Mb DRAM and provided a RAS access time of 60 ns under a V_cc of 4 V at 85°C     

A deep-submicrometer microwave/digital CMOS/SOS technology

0.35-μm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)/silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) n- and p-channel MOSFETs with a metal-over-polysilicon T-gate structure for monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) and digital applications are reported. The measured values for the current-gain cutoff frequency f_T were ⩾20 GHz for both n-channel and p-channel devices, and the values for the unilateral power-gain cutoff frequency f_max were 37 GHz for the p-channel and 53 GHz for the n-channel MOSFETs. The low effective resistance of the T-gate structure contributed to the very high f_max values. It is believed that these are the highest f_T and f_max values ever reported for MOS devices. The potential of SOS submicrometer MOSFETs for microwave circuit applications is demonstrated     

A 64-Mb DRAM with meshed power line

A 64-Mb dynamic RAM (DRAM) has been developed with a meshed power line (MPL) and a quasi-distributed sense-amplifier driver (qDSAD) scheme. It realizes high speed, t_RAS=50 ns (typical) at V_cc=3.3 V, and 16-b input/output (I/O). This MPL+qDSAD scheme can reduce sensing delay caused by the metal layer resistance. Furthermore, to suppress crosstalk noise, a V_SS shield peripheral layout scheme has been introduced, which also widens power line widths. This 64-Mb DRAM was fabricated with 0.4-μm CMOS technology using KrF excimer laser lithography. A newly developed memory cell structure, the tunnel-shaped stacked-capacitor cell (TSSC), was adapted to this 64-Mb DRAM     

Dynamic CMOS amplifiers

The method of on-chip CCD clock generation is discussed and successfully demonstrated by a 64 kbit CCD memory. Since the memory chip contains its own CCD clock generator, all inputs are fully TTL compatible. The memory is organized 65 536 X 1 in 256 random access loops of 256 bits each. The memory array employs an 8-phase electrode/bit (E/B approach to achieve high packing density and to increase charge-carrying capacity. The chip size is 7.1 mm X 4.7 mm and 13 percent of the chip area is occupied by the CCD clock generator. The typical power dissipation is 205 mW in the active mode at 1 MHz and 40 mW in the standby mode at 50 kHz. Only 25 percent of the total power is devoted to the CCD clock generation at 1 MHz. The device is processed witlh an n-channel double level polysilicon-gate technology.     

Deep-submicrometer BiCMOS circuit technology for sub-10-ns ECL 4-MbDRAM's

A 0.3-μm sub-10-ns ECL 4-Mb BiCMOS DRAM design is described. The results obtained are: (1) a V_cc connection limiter with a BiCMOS output circuit is chosen due to ease of design, excellent device reliability and layout area; (2) a mostly CMOS periphery with a specific bipolar use provides better performances at high speed and low power; (3) the direct sensing scheme of a single-stage MOS preamplifier combined with a bipolar main amplifier offers high speed; and (4) the strict control of MOS transistor parameters has been proven to be more important in obtaining high speed DRAMs, based on the 4-Mb design     

An on-chip back-bias generator for MOS dynamic memory

An on-chip back-bias generator for 64K dynamic MOS RAM has been developed.The use of this generator achieves the goal of a single 5 V power supply part while preserving the advantages of substrate bias in n-channel MOS technology. These advantages include the elimination of substrate injection current from localized forward biasing of diodes, improved speed and power characteristics, and a larger differential data signal on the bit sense lines. The generator circuit avoids several pit-falls on on-chip V/SUB BB/ generation. The circuit pumps to a known regulated voltage. This avoids substrate drift with changes in substrate current resulting from changes in cycle time. This drift will change device characteristics and degrade storage levels. A unique two-level reference scheme avoids changes in substrate bias voltage that otherwise result from the shift in V/SUB BB/ between precharged and active memory states when memory duty cycle changes. The standby power used by the generator is only 0.74 mW.     

Consistent model for the hot-carrier degradation in n-channel andp-channel MOSFETs

A model is derived using the charge-pumping technique for the evaluation of the interface characteristics, in combination with the behavior of the drain and the substrate currents after degradation. For n-channel transistors the degradation is mainly caused by the generation of interface traps. Only in the region of hole injection (V_g≈V_t) is the degradation dominated by the trapped holes, which mask the effect of the generated interface traps. The degradation of p-channel transistors, although completely different at first sight, occurs by the same mechanisms. For this case, the degradation is caused by trapped negative charge, which masks the influence of the interface traps. The latter are nevertheless generated in comparable amounts as in n-channel transistors. Based on these insights, improved procedures for accelerated-lifetime experiments are proposed for both channel types. Finally, the peculiar degradation behavior of n-channel transistors under alternating injection conditions is discussed and fully explained based on the static stress degradation model     

Effect of synchrotron X-ray radiation on the channel hot-carrierreliability of reoxidized nitrided silicon dioxide

Channel hot-carrier-induced degradation was studied in reoxidized nitrided oxide n-channel MOSFETs which were exposed to 1-2-keV X-rays from a synchrotron source. It is found that transconductance degradation under high gate bias stress (Vg=1.3 V_d) is enhanced by the X-ray exposure to a lesser degree in reoxidized nitrided oxide (RNO) devices than in conventional oxide devices. This indicates that radiation generates fewer electron traps in RNO than in a conventional oxide     

A 14-ns 14-Mb CMOS DRAM with 300-mW active power

A 4-Mb high-speed DRAM (HSDRAM) has been developed and fabricated by using 0.7-μm L_eff CMOS technology with PMOS arrays inside n-type wells and p-type substrate plate trench cells. The 13.18-mm×6.38-mm chip, organized as either 512 K word×8 b or 1 M word×4 b, achieves a nominal random-access time of 14 ns and a nominal column-access time of 7 ns, with a 3.6-V V_cc and provision of address multiplexing. The high level of performance is achieved by using a short-signal-path architecture with center bonding pads and a pulsed sensing scheme with a limited bit-line swing. A fast word-line boosting scheme and a two-stage word-line delay monitor provide fast word-line transition and detection. A new data output circuit, which interfaces a 3.6-V V_cc to a 5-V bus with an NMOS-only driver, also contributes to the fast access speed by means of a preconditioning scheme and boosting scheme. Limiting the bit-line voltage swing for bit-line sensing results in a low power dissipation of 300 mW for a 60-ns cycle time     

Low-temperature CV dispersion in MOS devices

A study is reported of the dispersion seen in the accumulation and depletion regions, of the C-V curve in n-channel MOS devices in the temperature range 30-45 K. It is concluded that the dispersion observed in these experiments is caused by time-constant effects, due to the substrate resistance and not caused by dopant atom emission time constant effects. From the measured admittance as a function of temperature and frequency, the acceptor energy level is determined to within ±0.4 meV     

Low 1/f noise design of Hi-CMOS devices

Low-frequency noise characteristics of High-Performance CMOS(Hi-CMOS) devices were measured. It was found that the equivalent input noise power SVg,eqfor n-channel MOSFET's has a 1/fα spectrum (0.8 < α < 0.95) above 10 µA, even for sealed-down devices with channel lengths LGof 2 µm. The SVg,eqis clearly proportional to 1/Leffdown to 0.8 µm. The noise characteristics of p-channel and n-channel MOSFET's were compared. It was found that in Hi-CMOS devices, noise reduction in normally-off-type p-channel devices was obtained by light boron-ion implantations at doses below 10¹²cm^-2. The 1/f noise level of p-channel devices was reduced to 1/10- 1/20 that of n-channel devices. In n-channel devices, the low-frequency noise power is a slow increasing function of the drain current. In p-channel devices, on the other hand, a threshold current was observed at which the noise begins to increase rapidly. The results are discussed in this paper in relation to the theoretical model of 1/f noise. The device design for reducing 1/f noise in CMOS differential amplifiers is also examined.     

Characterization of oxide trap and interface trap creation duringhot-carrier stressing of n-MOS transistors using the floating-gatetechnique

A technique has been developed to differentiate between interface states and oxide trapped charges in conventional n-channel MOS transistors. The gate current is measured before and after stress damage using the floating-gate technique. It is shown that the change in the I_g-V_g characteristics following the creation and filling of oxide traps by low gate voltage stress shows distinct differences when compared to that which occurs for interface trap creation at mid gate voltage stress conditions, permitting the identification of hot-carrier damage through the I_g- V_g characteristics. The difference is explained in terms of the changes in occupancy of the created interface traps as a function of gate voltage during the I_g-V _g measurements     

Analysis of nonuniform ESD current distribution in deep submicron NMOS transistors

This paper presents a detailed study of the nonuniform bipolar conduction phenomenon under electrostatic discharge (ESD) events in single-finger NMOS transistors and analyzes its implications for the design of ESD protection for deep-submicron CMOS technologies. It is shown that the uniformity of the bipolar current distribution under ESD conditions is severely degraded depending on device finger width (W) and significantly influenced by the substrate and gate-bias conditions as well. This nonuniform current distribution is identified as a root cause of the severe reduction in ESD failure threshold current for the devices with advanced silicided processes. Additionally, the concept of an intrinsic second breakdown triggering current (I/sub t2i/) is introduced, which is substrate-bias independent and represents the maximum achievable ESD failure strength for a given technology. With this improved understanding of ESD behavior involved in advanced devices, an efficient design window can be constructed for robust deep submicron ESD protection.     

H-MOS reliability

H-MOS is a new high-performance n-channel technology with a 1-pJ speed power product. This technology is the result of scaling MOS device dimensions. The effect of thinner oxide integrity and hot electron injection are investigated. A screening technique for thin oxides using high-voltage stressing is presented. Threshold shifts due to hot electron injection were observed to be less than 1 mV. Operating lifetest data predict a failure rate of 0.017 percent/1000 h on 4K static RAM's built on H-MOS.     

The effect of Fowler-Nordheim tunneling current stress on mobilityin n-channel MOSFETs

The electron effective mobility in n-channel MOSFETs has been investigated under Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling current stress at room temperature. With F-N current stress, mobilities become smaller than of the prestress mobilities over the whole region of inversion carrier density N_inv, and the N_inv -dependence of the mobility almost disappears