Layout-Dependent Stress Effect on High-Frequency Characteristics and Flicker Noise in Multifinger and Donut MOSFETs

Abstract

The impact of MOSFET layout-dependent stress on high-frequency performance and flicker noise has been investigated. The proposed donut MOSFETs demonstrate the advantages over the standard multifinger MOSFETs, such as the lower flicker noise <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">$S_{\rm ID}/I_{\rm DS}^{2}$</tex></formula> in the low-frequency domain and the higher cutoff frequency <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">$f_{T}$</tex></formula> in the very high-frequency region. The elimination of the transverse stress <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">$ \sigma_{\perp}$</tex></formula> from shallow trench isolation (STI) and the suppression of interface traps along the STI edge are proposed as the primary factors responsible for the enhancement of the effective mobility <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">$\mu_{\rm eff}$</tex></formula> , as well as <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX"> $f_{T}$</tex></formula> , and the reduction of flicker noise. The significantly lower flicker noise realized by donut devices suggests the reduction of STI-generated traps and the suppression of mobility fluctuation due to eliminated transverse stress. The former is applied to n-channel MOS in which the flicker noise is determined by the number-fluctuation model. The latter is responsible for p-channel MOS whose flicker noise is dominated by the mobility-fluctuation model.