Madan Mohan Malaviya Univ.
of Technology, Gorakhpur
                 VLSI Design (BEC-41)
                  (Unit-1, Lecture-6)
                       Presented By:
                    Prof. R. K. Chauhan
  Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
16-07-2020                                                       Side 1
Introduction
• The SPICE software that was distributed by UC
  Berkeley beginning in the late 1970s had three
  built-in MOSFET models
   – LEVEL1(MOS1) is a described y a square-law
     current-voltage characteristics
   – LEVEL2 (MOS2) is a detailed analytical MOSFET
     model
   – LEVEL 3 (MOS3) is a semi-empirical model
      • Both MOS2 and MOS3 include second-order effects
         – The short channel threshold voltage, subthreshold conduction,
           scattering-limited velocity saturation, and charge-controlled
           capacitances
   – The BSIM3 version
      • More accurate characterization sub-micron MOSFET
        characteristics
                                                                           2
Basic concept
• The equivalent circuit structure of the
  NMOS LEVEL 1 model
                                            3
    The LEVEL 1 model equation
                                                                                •   K’=27.6μA/V2   KP=27.6U
Linear region
                                                                                •   VT0=1.0V       VTO=1
    k' W                                                                        •   γ=0.53V1/2     GAMMA=0.53
ID = ⋅     ⋅ 2 ⋅ VGS − VT VDS − VDS
                                 2
                                    ⋅ 1 + λ ⋅ VDS for VGS ≥ VT
    2 Leff                                                                      •   2φF=-0.58      PHI=0.58
                                                            and VDS < VGS -VT   •   λ=0            LAMBDA=0
Saturation region                                                               •   μn=800cm2/Vs   UO=800
                                                                                •    tox=100nm     TOX=100E-9
    k' W                          2
ID = ⋅     ⋅ VGS − VT                 ⋅ 1 + λ ⋅VDS for VGS ≥ VT                 •   NA=1015cm-3    NSUB=1E15
    2 Leff
                                                                                •   LD=0.8μm       LD=0.8E-6
                                                  and VDS ≥ VGS -VT
The threshold voltage
VT = VT 0 + ⋅          2    F   + VSB − 2    F
Leff = L − 2 ⋅ LD
                                  εox
k' =     ⋅ Cox where Cox =
                                  tox
        2⋅         ⋅q⋅ NA
    =         Si
              Cox
             kT ⎛ ni ⎞
2   F   =2      ⋅ ln⎜⎜    ⎟⎟
              q      ⎝ NA ⎠
                                                                                                            4
Variation of the drain current with model parameter
                                                      5
The LEVEL 2 model equation
            k'       W     ⎧⎛                              VDS ⎞       2                        3/ 2                     3/ 2   ⎫
    ID =           ⋅     ⋅ ⎨⎜VGS − VFB − 2         F   −       ⎟ ⋅VDS − ⋅ ⋅ VDS − VBS + 2   F          − − VBS + 2   F          ⎬
         1 − ⋅ VDS Leff    ⎩⎝                               2 ⎠        3                                                        ⎭
    The saturation voltage
                                           ⎛        2                ⎞
    VDSAT = VGS − VFB − 2   F   +   2
                                        ⋅ ⎜⎜1 − 1 + 2 ⋅ VGS − VFB    ⎟
                                                                     ⎟
                                           ⎝                         ⎠
    The saturation mode current
                       1
    I D = I Dsat ⋅
                   1-λ ⋅ VDS
    The zero bias threshold voltage
                  q ⋅ N ss
    VT 0 = Φ GC −          +2 F +   2        F
                   Cox
•   In the current equation above, the surface carrier mobility has been assumed
    constant, and its variation with applied terminal voltages has been neglected
•   In reality, the surface mobility decreases with the increasing gate voltage
      –   Due to the scattering of carriers in the channel
      –                                                         Ue
                            ⎛          toc ⋅ U c     ⎞
          k(' new) = k ' ⋅ ⎜⎜ Si ⋅                   ⎟⎟
                            ⎝ ox VGS − VT − U t ⋅VDS ⎠
          U c is the gate - to - channel critical field
          U t is the contribution of the drain voltage to the gate - to - channel field
          U e is the exponential fitting parameter                                                                                  6
variation of channel length in saturation mode
   L'eff = Leff − ΔL
         2 ⋅ Si ⎡VDS − VDSAT
                                                     2⎤
                                     ⎛ V  − V DSAT ⎞ ⎥
   ΔL =         ⋅⎢            + 1 + ⎜ DS           ⎟
         q⋅ NA ⎢       4             ⎝     4       ⎠ ⎥⎦
                  ⎣
   The empirical channel length shortening coefficient
             ΔL
     =
          Leff ⋅ VDS
   The slope of the I D -VDS vurve is saturation can be adjusted and
   fitted to experimental data by changing the substrate doping parameter N A
   In this case, however, other N A - dependent electrical parameters such
   as 2   F   and must be specified separately in the .MODEL statement
                                                                                7
Saturation of carrier velocity
• The calculation of the saturation voltage VDSAT is based
  on the assumption
   – The channel charge near the drain becomes equal to zero when
     the device enters saturation
   – This hypothesis is actually incorrect
      • Since a minimum charge concentration greater than zero must exist
        in the channel, due to the carriers that sustain the saturation current
      • The minimum concentration depends on the speed of the carriers
      • The inversion layer charge at the channel-end is found as
          –             I Dsat
              Qinv =
                       W ⋅ vmax
                                          2
                          ⎛ X D ⋅ vmax ⎞                  X D2 ⋅ vmax
              ΔL = X D ⋅ ⎜⎜            ⎟⎟ + VDS − VDSAT −
                          ⎝ 2⋅          ⎠                    2⋅
                            2 ⋅ Si
              XD =
                        q ⋅ N A ⋅ N eff
          – The parameter Neff is used as a fitting parameter
                                                                              8
Subthreshold conduction
•     For VGS<VT, there is a channel current even
      when the surface is not in strong inversion
•     This subthreshold current
        –   Due mainly to diffusion between and the
            channel
        –   Becoming an increasing concern for deep-
            sub-micron designs
•     The model implemented in SPICE
      introduces an exponential, semi-empirical
      dependence of the drain current on VGS in
      the weak inversion region
        –                                           ⎛ q ⎞
                                        (VGS −Von )⋅⎜     ⎟
    I D ( weak inversion ) = I on ⋅ e               ⎝ nkT ⎠
    I on is the current in strong inversion for VGS = Von
    the voltage Von is found as
                 nkT               q ⋅ N FS Cd
    Von = VT +       where n = 1 +         +
                  q                  Cox     Cox
    The parameter N FS is defined as the number of fast superficial states
    and is used as a fitting parameter that determines the slope of the subthreshold
    current - voltage characteristics
    Cd : is the depletion capacitance
    This model introduces a discontinuity for VGS = Von , therefore, the simulation
    of the transition region between weak and strong inversion is not very precise
                                                                                       9
The LEVEL 3 model equations
•   The LEVEL 3 model has been developed for simulation of short channel
    MOS transistor
     – Quite precisely for channel lengths down to 2μm
     – The current-voltage equation in the linear region has been simplified with a
       Taylor series expansion
     – The majority of the LEVEL 3 model equations are empirical
          • To improve the accuracy of the model
          • To limit the complexity of the calculation
                              W ⎛                1 + FB       ⎞
         ID =     s ⋅ Cox ⋅        ⋅ ⎜VGS − VT −        ⋅ VDS ⎟ ⋅ VDS
                              Leff ⎝                2         ⎠
                                     ⋅ Fs
         where FB =                                 + Fn
                         4⋅ 2         F     + VSB
         The empirical parameter FB express the dependence of the bulk depletion charge
         The VT . Fs , and μs are influenced by the short - channel effects
         The Fn is influenced by the narrow - channel effects
                        μ
         μs =
                1 + θ ⋅ VGS -VT
         The decrease in the effective mobility with the average lateral electrical field
                              μs
         μeff =
                                VDS
                  1 + μs ⋅
                              vmax ⋅ Leff
                                                                                            10
State-of-art MOSFET models
• BSIM-Berkeley short-channel IGFET model
   – The model is analytically simple and is based on a small number
     of parameters, which are normally extracted from experimental
     data
   – Accuracy and d\efficiency
   – Widely used by many companies and silicon foundries
• EKV (Enz-Krummenacher-Vittoz) transistor model
   – Previous models considering
      • The strong-inversion region of operation separately from the weak-
        inversion region
      • Causing serous problems in the modeling of transistors at very low
        voltages as in many cases involving deep sub-micron CMOS
        technology
   – Attempting to solve this problem by
      • Using a unified view of the transistor operating regions
      • Avoiding the use of disjoint equations in strong and weak inversion
                                                                          11
Gate oxide capacitance
•   SPICE uses a simple gate oxide capacitance model that represents the charge
    storage effect by three nonlinear two-terminal capacitor: CGB, CGS and CGD
•   The geometry information required for the calculation of gate oxide capacitance are:
     –   Gate oxide thickness TOX
     –   Channel width W
     –   Channel length L
     –   Lateral diffusion LD
•   The capacitances CGBO, CGSO, and CGDO, which are specified in the .MODEL
    statement, are the overlap capacitances between the gate and the other terminals
    outside the channel region
•   If the parameter XQC is specified in the .MODEL statement
     –   SPICE uses a simplified version of the charge-controlled capacitance model proposed by
         Ward
                                                                                                  12
Junction capacitance
            C j ⋅ AS              C jsw ⋅ PS
 CSB =                 Mj
                            +              M jsw
          ⎛ VBS ⎞               ⎛ VBS ⎞
          ⎜⎜1 −      ⎟⎟         ⎜⎜1 −       ⎟⎟
           ⎝       0 ⎠           ⎝       0 ⎠
              C j ⋅ AD              C jsw ⋅ PD
 C DB =                Mj
                            +               M jsw
          ⎛ VBD ⎞         ⎛ VBD ⎞
          ⎜⎜1 −     ⎟⎟    ⎜⎜1 −    ⎟⎟
           ⎝     0 ⎠       ⎝    0 ⎠
 C j : the zero - bias depletion capacitance per unit area at the bottom of the junction
 C jsw : the zero - bias depletion capzcitance per unit length at the sidewall junctions
 C jsw ≅ 10 ⋅ C j ⋅ x j
 AS and AD are the source and the drain areas
 PS and PD are the source and the drain perimeters
 M j and M jsw denote the junction grading coefficients for the bottom and the sidewalls junctions
 Default values are M j = 0.5 and M jsw = 0.33
                                                                                              13
Comparison of the SPICE MOSFET models
• The LEVEL 1 model
  – Not very precise
  – Quick and rough estimate of the circuit performance
    without much accuracy
• THE LEVEL 2 model
  – Require a larger time
  – May occasionally cause convergence problems in the
    Newton-Raphson algorithm used in SPICE
• THE LEVEL 3 model
  – The CPU time needed for model evaluation is less
    and the number of iterations are significantly fewer for
    the LEVEL three model
  – Disadvantage
     • The complexity of calculating some of its parameters
                                                              14