A physical charge-based model for non-fully depleted SOI MOSFET's and its use in assessing floating-body effects in SOI CMOS circuits

Abstract

A new model for the non-fully depleted (NFD) SOI MOSFET is developed and used to study floating-body effects in SOI CMOS circuits. The charge-based model is physical, yet compact and thus suitable for device/circuit simulation. Verified by numerical device simulations and test-device measurements, and implemented in (SOI)SPICE, it reliably predicts floating-body effects resulting from free-carrier charging in the NFD/SOI MOSFET, including the purportedly beneficial supra-ideal sub-threshold slope due to impact ionization and a saturation current enhancement due to thermal generation. SOISPICE CMOS circuit simulations reveal that the former effect is not beneficial and could be detrimental, but the latter effect can be beneficial, especially in low-voltage applications, when accompanied by a dynamic floating-body effect that effectively reduces static power. The dynamic floating-body effects are hysteretic, however, and hence exploitation of the beneficial ones will necessitate device/circuit design scrutiny aided by physical models such as the one presented herein.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>