Lecture 3:
CMOS
Transistor
Theory
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 2
Outline
Introduction
MOS Capacitor
nMOS I-V Characteristics
pMOS I-V Characteristics
Gate and Diffusion Capacitance
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 3
Introduction
So far, we have treated transistors as ideal switches
An ON transistor passes a finite amount of current
– Depends on terminal voltages
– Derive current-voltage (I-V) relationships
Transistor gate, source, drain all have capacitance
– I = C (∆V/∆t) -> ∆t = (C/I) ∆V
– Capacitance and current determine speed
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 4
polysilicon gate
(a)
silicon dioxide insulator
p-type body
+
-
V
g
< 0
MOS Capacitor
Gate and body form MOS
capacitor
Operating modes
– Accumulation
– Depletion
– Inversion
(b)
+
-
0 < V
g
< V
t
depletion region
(c)
+
-
V
g
> V
t
depletion region
inversion region
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 5
Terminal Voltages
Mode of operation depends on V
g
, V
d
, V
s
– V
gs
= V
g
– V
s
– V
gd
= V
g
– V
d
– V
ds
= V
d
– V
s
= V
gs
- V
gd
Source and drain are symmetric diffusion terminals
– By convention, source is terminal at lower voltage
– Hence V
ds
≥ 0
nMOS body is grounded. First assume source is 0 too.
Three regions of operation
– Cutoff
– Linear
– Saturation
V
g
V
s
V
d
V
gd
V
gs
V
ds
+
-
+
-
+
-
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 6
nMOS Cutoff
No channel
I
ds
≈ 0
+
-
V
gs
= 0
n+ n+
+
-
V
gd
p-type body
b
g
s
d
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 7
nMOS Linear
Channel forms
Current flows from d to s
– e
-
from s to d
I
ds
increases with V
ds
Similar to linear resistor
+
-
V
gs
> V
t
n+ n+
+
-
V
gd
= V
gs
+
-
V
gs
> V
t
n+ n+
+
-
V
gs
> V
gd
> V
t
V
ds
= 0
0 < V
ds
< V
gs
-V
t
p-type body
p-type body
b
g
s
d
b
g
s
d
I
ds
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 8
nMOS Saturation
Channel pinches off
I
ds
independent of V
ds
We say current saturates
Similar to current source
+
-
V
gs
> V
t
n+ n+
+
-
V
gd
< V
t
V
ds
> V
gs
-V
t
p-type body
b
g
s
d
I
ds
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 9
I-V Characteristics
In Linear region, I
ds
depends on
– How much charge is in the channel?
– How fast is the charge moving?
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 10
Channel Charge
MOS structure looks like parallel plate capacitor
while operating in inversions
– Gate – oxide – channel
Q
channel
= CV
C = C
g
= ε
ox
WL/t
ox
= C
ox
WL
V = V
gc
– V
t
= (V
gs
– V
ds
/2) – V
t
n+ n+
p-type body
+
V
gd
gate
+ +
source
-
V
gs
-
drain
V
ds
channel
-
V
g
V
s
V
d
C
g
n+ n+
p-type body
W
L
t
ox
SiO
2
gate oxide
(good insulator, ε
ox
= 3.9)
polysilicon
gate
C
ox
= ε
ox
/ t
ox
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 11
Carrier velocity
Charge is carried by e-
Electrons are propelled by the lateral electric field
between source and drain
– E = V
ds
/L
Carrier velocity v proportional to lateral E-field
– v = µE µ called mobility
Time for carrier to cross channel:
– t = L / v
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 12
nMOS Linear I-V
Now we know
– How much charge Q
channel
is in the channel
– How much time t each carrier takes to cross
channel
ox
2
2
ds
ds
gs t ds
ds
gs t ds
Q
I
t
W
V
C VV V
L
V
VV V
µ
β
=
= −−
= −−
ox
=
W
C
L
βµ
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 13
nMOS Saturation I-V
If V
gd
< V
t
, channel pinches off near drain
– When V
ds
> V
dsat
= V
gs
– V
t
Now drain voltage no longer increases current
( )
2
2
2
dsat
ds gs t dsat
gs t
V
I VV V
VV
β
β
= −−
= −
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 14
nMOS I-V Summary
( )
2
cutoff
linear
saturatio
0
2
2
n
gs t
ds
ds gs t ds ds dsat
gs t ds dsat
VV
V
I VV VVV
VV VV
β
β
<
= −− <
−>
Shockley 1
st
order transistor models
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 15
Example
We will be using a 0.6 µm process for your project
– From AMI Semiconductor
– t
ox
= 100 Å
– µ = 350 cm
2
/V*s
– V
t
= 0.7 V
Plot I
ds
vs. V
ds
– V
gs
= 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
– Use W/L = 4/2 λ
( )
14
2
8
3.9 8.85 10
350 120μA/V
100 10
ox
W WW
C
L LL
βµ
−
−
×⋅
= = =
⋅
0 1
2
3
4 5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
V
ds
I
ds
(mA)
V
gs
= 5
V
gs
= 4
V
gs
= 3
V
gs
= 2
V
gs
= 1
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 16
pMOS I-V
All dopings and voltages are inverted for pMOS
– Source is the more positive terminal
Mobility µ
p
is determined by holes
– Typically 2-3x lower than that of electrons µ
n
– 120 cm
2
/V•s in AMI 0.6 µm process
Thus pMOS must be wider to
provide same current
– In this class, assume
µ
n
/ µ
p
= 2
-5 -4 -3
-2 -1 0
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
I
ds
(mA)
V
gs
= -5
V
gs
= -4
V
gs
= -3
V
gs
= -2
V
gs
= -1
V
ds
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 17
Capacitance
Any two conductors separated by an insulator have
capacitance
Gate to channel capacitor is very important
– Creates channel charge necessary for operation
Source and drain have capacitance to body
– Across reverse-biased diodes
– Called diffusion capacitance because it is
associated with source/drain diffusion
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 18
Gate Capacitance
Approximate channel as connected to source
C
gs
= ε
ox
WL/t
ox
= C
ox
WL = C
permicron
W
C
permicron
is typically about 2 fF/µm
n+ n+
p-type body
W
L
t
ox
SiO
2
gate oxide
(good insulator, ε
ox
= 3.9ε
0
)
polysilicon
gate
CMOS VLSI DesignCMOS VLSI Design
4th Ed.
3: CMOS Transistor Theory 19
Diffusion Capacitance
C
sb
, C
db
Undesirable, called parasitic capacitance
Capacitance depends on area and perimeter
– Use small diffusion nodes
– Comparable to C
g
for contacted diff
– ½ C
g
for uncontacted
– Varies with process