T-CAD Design Simulation and Comparative Performance Analysis of 6-T SRAM Cell with Nanoscale SOI and MOS Technology

Abstract

During last few decades, either memory or processor, VLSI circuit efficiency, has been significantly improved through a combination of device scaling, new device structures and material property improvement. In nano-meter region, conventional silicon technology has been suffered from the fundamental physical limitations so some alternative device technologies like Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology has been emerged. Experimentally or theoretically, SOI technology has shown better short channel effect immunity and thus transistor scalability and circuit performance has been improved. In last decade, intense interests have been paid in practical fabrication and compact modelling of SOI MOSFET but little attention has been paid to understand the SOI based circuit performance analysis and improvement. In the present analysis, using TCAD Simulator, six transistors SRAM cell has been designed with SOI and conventional MOSFET nano-structures. SRAM effective reading and writing operations have been compared to implicate the improvement in efficiency with SOI technology. Time delay and power dissipation for both SOI SRAM and MOS SRAM cell has been compared also. It has been observed that nano-SOI SRAM cell shows better reading sensitivity as well as better power efficiency but with little higher delay effect compared to nano-MOS SRAM cell.