Linear kink effect Lorentzians in the noise spectra of n- and p-channel fin field-effect transistors processed in standard and strained silicon-on-insulator substrates

Abstract

The Lorentzian-like noise induced by Electron Valence Band (EVB) tunneling has been investigated in n- and p-channel multiple-gate field-effect transistors (MuGFETs), processed on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and strained SOI (sSOI) substrates. The effect has been studied for different back-gate and front-gate biases and as a function of the device geometry. Similar as for wide fully depleted SOI transistors, this type of excess low-frequency noise is found when the back gate is biased in accumulation. However, it is shown that the characteristic time constant of the Lorentzian cannot be modeled assuming a uniform EVB tunneling current across the gate area of the MuGFETs. This indicates an impact of the three-dimensional nature of the device architecture on the so-called linear kink effects. In addition, it is demonstrated that the tensile strain in sSOI MuGFETs also yields a change in the Lorentzian parameters, associated with changes in the EVB tunneling current.