Using S-parameter measurements to determine the threshold voltage, gain factor, and mobility degradation factor for microwave bulk-MOSFETs

In this paper, we present an extraction and characterization methodology which allows for the determination, from S-parameter measurements, of the threshold voltage, the gain factor, and the mobility degradation factor, neither requiring data regressions involving multiple devices nor DC measurements. This methodology takes into account the substrate effects occurring in MOSFETs built in bulk technology so that physically meaningful parameters can be obtained. Furthermore, an analysis of the substrate impedance is presented, showing that this parasitic component not only degrades the performance of a microwave MOSFET, but may also lead to determining unrealistic values for the model parameters when not considered during a high-frequency characterization process. Measurements were made on transistors of different lengths, the shortest being 80 nm, in the 10 MHz to 40 GHz frequency range.