Comparative analysis of the quantum FinFET and trigate FinFET based on modeling and simulation

Abstract

A comparative analysis of the trigate fin-shaped field-effect transistor (FinFET) and quantum FinFET (QFinFET) is carried out by using density gradient quantization models in the Synopsys three-dimensional (3-D) technology computer-aided design (TCAD) platform. The gate dielectric stack comprising 0.5 nm SiO2 (k = 3.9) and 2 nm HfO2 (k = 22) contributes to an effective oxide thickness of 0.86 nm and is kept constant throughout the study. The results demonstrate that the QFinFET can overcome the limitations of current FinFET devices when scaling down to the atomic level. An analytical model including quantum-mechanical effects for evaluation of the drain current of the FinFET is established and validated using the TCAD software. The degradation in the drive current with downscaling of the fin thickness for the trigate FinFET and the increase in the drive current for the QFinFET are presented. The results are improved by taking into account different channel lengths and body thicknesses to estimate the drain current–gate voltage and gate capacitance–gate voltage characteristics for both the trigate FinFET and QFinFET. The drain-induced barrier lowering and subthreshold swing are also analyzed for the trigate FinFET and QFinFET at different technology nodes, revealing excellent characteristics. It is clearly established that the QFinFET can overcome the limitations faced by current FinFET devices when scaling the silicon down to the atomic level and may represent the next generation of FinFET devices.