Lecture 8

MOSFET(I)
MOSFET I-V CHARACTERISTICS
Outline
1. MOSFET: cross-section, layout,
symbols
2. Qualitative operation
3. I-V characteristics
Reading Assignment:
Howe and Sodini, Chapter 4, Sections 4.1-4.3
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 1
1. MOSFET: layout, cross-section, symbols
active area (thin
interconnect
Key elements:
Inversion layer under gate (depending on gate voltage)
Heavily doped regions reach underneath gate
- inversion layer to electrically connect source and drain
Cterminal device:
- body voltage important
6.012Spring 2009 Lecture 8
Circuit symbols
Two complementary devices:
n-channel device (n-MOSFET) on p-substrate
uses electron inversion layer
p-channel device (p-MOSFET) on n-substrate
uses hole inversion layer
n
+
n
+
p
Bulk or
Body
Drain
Source
Gate
(a) n-channel MOSFET
D

G
I
Dp
B
p
+
p
+
n
Bulk or
Body
Drain
Gate
(b) p-channel MOSFET
Source
+
_
V
SG
D
S

G
+
+
_
V
GS
I
Dn
I
Dn
B
V
SD
> 0
V
DS
> 0
+
_
V
BS
+
_
V
SB
D
G
B
S
S
S
B
D
G
I
Dp
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 3
(2. Qualitative Operation
Drain Current (Id:proportional to inversion charge
and the velocity that the charge travels fiom source
to drain
Velociv:proportional to electric field fiom drain to
source
Gate-Source Voltage (VG& controls amount of
inversion charge that carries the current
Drain-Source Voltage (V'J :controls the electric
field that drifts the inversion charge fiom the source
to drain
Want to understand the relationship between the drain
current in the MOSFET as a function of gate-to-source
voltage and drain-to-source voltage.
Initially consider source tied up to body (substrate or
6.012Spring 2009 Lecture 8
MOSFET:
- V,, <V,, with V,, 3 0
Inversion Charge = 0
V,, drops across drain depletion region
I, = 0
\
depletion region
* - - - - - - - - - - *
no inversion layer
anywhere
6.012Spring 2009 Lecture 8
\
depletion region
inversion layer
everywhere
6.012Spring 2009 Lecture 8
/Three Regions of Operation:
Saturation Region V,, >V,, - V,
depletion region
inversion layer
"pinched-off"at drain side
IDis independent of VDs: ID=Id,,
Electric field in channel cannot increase with VDs
6.012Spring 2009 Lecture 8
3. I-V Characteristics (Assume V
SB
=0)
Geometry of problem:
All voltages are referred to the Source
General expression of channel current
Current can only flow in the y-direction:
Total channel flux:
I
y
= W Q
N
(y) v
y
(y)
Drain current is equal to minus channel current:
I
D
= W Q
N
(y) v
y
(y)
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 8
I-V Characteristics (Contd.)
Re-write equation in terms of voltage at location y, V(y):
If electric field is not too high:
For Q
N
(y), use charge-control relation at location y:
v
y
(y) =
n
E
y
(y) =
n

dV
dy
All together the drain current is given by:
I
D
= W
n
C
ox
V
GS
V( y) V
T
| |

dV(y)
dy
Simple linear first order differential equation with one
un-known, the channel voltage V(y).
I
D
= W Q
N
(y) v
y
(y)
Q
N
(y) = C
ox
V
GS
V(y) V
T
| |
for V
GS
V(y) V
T
.
.
Note that we assumed that V
T
is independent of y.
See discussion on body effect in Section 4.4 of text.
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 9
I-V Characteristics (Contd..)
Solve by separating variables:
Integrate along the channel in the linear regime subject
the boundary conditions :
- Source: y=0, V(0)=0
- Drain: y=L, V(L)=V
DS
(linear regime)
Then:
I
D
=
W
L

n
C
ox
V
GS

V
DS
2
V
T

(
V
DS
Resulting in:
I
D
dy
0
L

= W
n
C
ox
V
GS
V(y) V
T
| |
dV
0
V
DS

I
D
y
| |
0
L
= I
D
L = W
n
C
ox
V
GS

V
2
V
T
|
\

|

| V

(
0
V
DS
I
D
dy = W
n
C
ox
V
GS
V( y) V
T
| |
dV
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 10
I-V Characteristics (Contd)
I
D
=
W

n
C
ox

V
GS

V
DS
V
T (
(
V
DS
L

2

for V
DS
< V
GS
V
T
Key dependencies:
V
DS
I
D
(higher lateral electric field)
V
GS
I
D
(higher electron concentration)
This is the linear or triode region:
It is linear if V
DS
<<V
GS
-V
T
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 11
I-V Characteristics (Contd.)
Two important observations
1. Equation only valid if V
GS
V(y) V
T
at every y.
Worst point is y=L, where V(y) = V
DS
, hence,
equation is valid if
V
DS
V
GS
V
T
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 12
I-V Characteristics (Contd..)
Two important observations
2. As V
DS
approaches V
GS
V
T
, the rate of increase of
I
D
decreases.
Reason:
As y increases down the channel, V(y) , |Q
N
(y)| , and
E
y
(y) (fewer carriers moving faster)
inversion layer thins down from source to drain
I
D
grows more slowly.
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 13
I-V Characteristics (Contd)
Drain Current Saturation
As V
DS
approaches
increase in E
y
compensated by decrease in |Q
N
|
I
D
saturates when |Q
N
| equals 0 at drain end.
Value of drain saturation current:
Then
V
DSsat
= V
GS
V
T
I
Dsat
= I
Dlin
(V
DS
= V
DSsat
= V
GS
V
T
)
I
Dsat
=
W
L

n
C
ox
V
GS

V
DS
2
V
T
|
\

|

|
V
DS

(
V
DS
=V
GS
V
T
= I
Dsat
1 W

n
C
ox
|
V
GS
V
T
|
2
2 L
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 14
Will talk more about saturation region next time.
I-V Characteristics (Contd.)
Output Characteristics
Transfer characteristics:
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 15
Output Characteristics
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 16
Summary of Key Concepts
MOSFET Output Characteristics
I
Dsat
=
W
2L

n
C
ox
V
GS
V
T
( )
2
I-V Characteristics in Saturation Region
V
DS
V
GS
- V
T
I-V Characteristics in Linear Region
V
DS
< V
GS
- V
T
I
D
=
W
L

n
C
ox
V
GS

V
DS
2
V
T

(
V
DS
I-V Characteristics in Cutoff Region
V
GS
< V
T
I
D
= 0
6.012 Spring 2009 Lecture 8 17
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6.012 Microelectronic Devices and Circuits
Spring 2009
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