Chapter 6 - Noise in VLSI

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses various spontaneous noise sources in very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits and their effect on circuit operation. It discusses these noise sources themselves, such as thermal noise in metal-oxide-semiconductor FETs (MOSFETs), shot noise and burst noise in bipolar transistors, flicker noise in MOSFETs, and bipolar transistors. It discusses the effect of very high frequency noise in MOSFETs and bipolar transistors, the effect of burst noise in bipolar circuits, and the effect of 1/f noise in MOSFET and bipolar VLSI circuits. A MOSFET has a conducting channel capacitively coupled to the gate. At very high frequencies, the noise in the channel gives rise, because of the capacitive coupling to the gate, to a gate noise current. This is called induced gate noise. Cross talk can be defined as the undesirable coupling of energy between signal paths. In VLSI circuits, cross talk appears from two main sources—capacitive or inductive coupling between lines or elements, and common impedance coupling in the ground and battery lines. In these circuits, the interconnection paths are extremely dense and cross talk can be a significant problem.