ECE317

Modern VLSI Devices

Name: Salma Mohamed Sayed Ali

1
Contents
Introduction: ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Types of MOSFET scaling: ............................................................................................................................. 3
1) Constant-Field Scaling: ...................................................................................................................... 3
Threshold Voltage: ................................................................................................................................ 3
Channel length: ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Summary of constant field device scaling:............................................................................................ 4
2) Generalized scaling: .......................................................................................................................... 5
Threshold voltage: ................................................................................................................................ 5
Channel length: ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Summary of Generalized device scaling: .............................................................................................. 5
3) Constant voltage scaling: .................................................................................................................. 6
Threshold voltage: ................................................................................................................................ 6
Channel length: ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Summary of constant voltage device scaling: ....................................................................................... 6
References ................................................................................................................................................ 7

2
Introduction:
MOSFET scaling is the process of reducing the size and dimensions of metal-oxide-
semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) in order to improve their
performance, such as speed, power consumption, and packing density. MOSFET
scaling is an important and challenging topic in semiconductor electronics, as it
enables the advancement and innovation of various applications and devices, such
as computers, smartphones, sensors, and artificial intelligence.
There are different types of scaling, such as constant field scaling, constant voltage
scaling, and generalized scaling, which have different effects on the physical and
electrical parameters of the MOSFETs.

Types of MOSFET scaling:

Figure (a) shows the cross section and parameters of an original NMOS device and
Figure (b) shows the scaled device, where the scaling parameter is k.

Threshold Voltage:
In constant field scaling, the device voltages are reduced by the scaling factor k. It
would seem appropriate that the threshold voltage should also be scaled by the
same factor. The threshold voltage, for a uniformly doped substrate, can be
written as:

3
The first two terms in Equation are functions of material parameters that do not
scale and are only very slight functions of doping concentration. The last term is
approximately proportional to √ κ , so the threshold voltage does not scale directly
with the scaling factor κ .

Channel length:
The channel length is scaled from L to κ L. To maintain a constant horizontal
electric field. Since the channel length is being reduced, the depletion widths
also need to be reduced. If the substrate doping concentration is increased by
the factor (1/k), then the depletion width is reduced by approximately the
factor k since VD is reduced by k. The drain current per channel width, for the
transistor biased in the saturation region, can be written as:

The drift current per channel width remains essentially a constant, so if the
channel width is reduced by κ, then the drain current is also reduced by the area
of the device, A ≈WL, is then reduced by k ^2 and the power, P = IV, is also
reduced by k^2 . The power density in the chip remains unchanged.

Summary of constant field device scaling:

4
 2) Generalized scaling:
The main idea of generalized scaling is to keep the shape of the electric field
pattern in the device constant, while allowing the intensity of the field to increase.
This means that the dimensions, voltages, currents, and electric fields are reduced
by different factors, while the capacitances and resistances are reduced by the
product of the corresponding factors.

Threshold voltage:
According to the generalized scaling model, the threshold voltage is given by:

Where Vsb is the permittivity of silicon and alpha is the electric field scaling factor.
From this equation, we can see that the threshold voltage scales with the square
root of the doping concentration, which is proportional to the channel length.
Therefore, the threshold voltage decreases linearly with the channel length.

Channel length:
On the other hand, the channel length is scaled by the dimension scaling factor κ,
which is greater than 1. This means that the channel length decreases by a factor
of κ

Summary of Generalized device scaling:

5
 3) Constant voltage scaling:
Constant voltage scaling is a type of MOSFET scaling that only scales the physical
parameters of the MOSFET, such as the gate length, the channel width, and the
oxide thickness, by a factor of k , which is greater than 1.
The electrical parameters, such as the terminal voltages and currents, are kept
constant.

Threshold voltage:
the threshold voltage remains constant, while the channel length decreases by a
scaling factor. According to the constant voltage scaling model, the threshold
voltage is given by:

Channel length:
On the other hand, the channel length is scaled by the dimension scaling factor κ,
which is greater than 1. This means that the channel length decreases by a factor
of κ

Summary of constant voltage device scaling:

6
References

Hackatronic. (2021, September 7). What is Scaling of MOSFET, Scaling Factor, and
Types of Scaling. Retrieved from: https://www.hackatronic.com/what-is-scaling-of-
mosfet-scaling-factor-and-types-of-scaling/
Neamen, D. A. (2003, January 1). Semiconductor Physics and Devices.
Taur, Y., & Ning, T. H. (2013, May 2). Fundamentals of Modern VLSI Devices.
Cambridge University Press.