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MOSFETWikipedia

MOSFET
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Themetaloxidesemiconductorfieldeffecttransistor(MOSFET,
MOSFET,orMOSFET)isatypeoffieldeffecttransistor(FET).Ithas
aninsulatedgate,whosevoltagedeterminestheconductivityofthedevice.
Thisabilitytochangeconductivitywiththeamountofappliedvoltagecan
beusedforamplifyingorswitchingelectronicsignals.AlthoughFETis
sometimesusedwhenreferringtoMOSFETdevices,othertypesoffield
effecttransistorsalsoexist.
AlthoughtheMOSFETisafourterminaldevicewithsource(S),gate(G),
drain(D),andbody(B)terminals,[1]thebody(orsubstrate)ofthe
MOSFETisoftenconnectedtothesourceterminal,makingitathree
terminaldevicelikeotherfieldeffecttransistors.Becausethesetwo
terminalsarenormallyconnectedtoeachother(shortcircuited)internally,
onlythreeterminalsappearinelectricaldiagrams.

MOSFETshowinggate(G),body
(B),source(S)anddrain(D)
terminals.Thegateisseparatedfrom
thebodybyaninsulatinglayer
(white)

ThebasicprincipleofthefieldeffecttransistorwasfirstpatentedbyJulius
EdgarLilienfeldin1925.
ThemainadvantageofaMOSFEToveraregulartransistoristhatit
requiresverylittlecurrenttoturnon(lessthan1mA),whiledeliveringa
muchhighercurrenttoaload(10to50Aormore).
InenhancementmodeMOSFETs,avoltagedropacrosstheoxideinducesa
conductingchannelbetweenthesourceanddraincontactsviathefield
effect.Theterm"enhancementmode"referstotheincreaseofconductivity
withincreaseinoxidefieldthataddscarrierstothechannel,alsoreferredto
astheinversionlayer.Thechannelcancontainelectrons(calledan
nMOSFETornMOS),orholes(calledapMOSFETorpMOS),oppositein
typetothesubstrate,sonMOSismadewithaptypesubstrate,andpMOS
withanntypesubstrate(seearticleonsemiconductordevices).Intheless
commondepletionmodeMOSFET,detailedlateron,thechannelconsists
ofcarriersinasurfaceimpuritylayerofoppositetypetothesubstrate,and
conductivityisdecreasedbyapplicationofafieldthatdepletescarriers
fromthissurfacelayer.[2]

TwopowerMOSFETsinD2PAK
surfacemountpackages.Operatingas
switches,eachofthesecomponents
cansustainablockingvoltageof120
voltsintheOFFstate,andcan
conductacontinuouscurrentof
30amperesintheONstate,
dissipatinguptoabout100wattsand
controllingaloadofover2000watts.
Amatchstickispicturedforscale

The"metal"inthenameMOSFETisnowoftenamisnomerbecausethe
previouslymetalgatematerialisnowoftenalayerofpolysilicon(polycrystallinesilicon).Aluminiumhadbeen
thegatematerialuntilthemid1970s,whenpolysiliconbecamedominant,duetoitscapabilitytoformselfaligned
gates.Metallicgatesareregainingpopularity,sinceitisdifficulttoincreasethespeedofoperationoftransistors
withoutmetalgates.Likewise,the"oxide"inthenamecanbeamisnomer,asdifferentdielectricmaterialsareused
withtheaimofobtainingstrongchannelswithsmallerappliedvoltages.
AninsulatedgatefieldeffecttransistororIGFETisarelatedtermalmostsynonymouswithMOSFET.Theterm
maybemoreinclusive,sincemany"MOSFETs"useagatethatisnotmetal,andagateinsulatorthatisnotoxide.
AnothersynonymisMISFETformetalinsulatorsemiconductorFET.
TheMOSFETisbyfarthemostcommontransistorinbothdigitalandanalogcircuits,thoughthebipolarjunction
transistorwasatonetimemuchmorecommon.
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Contents
1 History
2 Composition
3 Operation
3.1 Metaloxidesemiconductorstructure
3.2 Structureandchannelformation
3.3 Modesofoperation
3.4 Bodyeffect
4 Circuitsymbols
5 Applications
5.1 MOSintegratedcircuits
5.2 CMOScircuits
5.2.1 Digital
5.2.2 Analog
5.3 Analogswitches
5.3.1 Singletype
5.3.2 Dualtype(CMOS)
6 Construction
6.1 Gatematerial
6.2 Insulator
6.3 Junctiondesign
7 Scaling
8 Othertypes
8.1 Dualgate
8.2 Depletionmode
8.3 NMOSlogic
8.4 PowerMOSFET
8.5 DMOS
8.6 RHBD
9 Seealso
10 References
11 Externallinks

Acrosssectionthroughan
nMOSFETwhenthegatevoltage
VGSisbelowthethresholdfor
makingaconductivechannelthereis
littleornoconductionbetweenthe
terminalsdrainandsourcetheswitch
isoff.Whenthegateismore
positive,itattractselectrons,inducing
anntypeconductivechannelinthe
substratebelowtheoxide,which
allowselectronstoflowbetweenthe
ndopedterminalstheswitchison

Simulationresultforformationof
inversionchannel(electrondensity)
andattainmentofthresholdvoltage
(IV)inananowireMOSFET.Note
thatthethresholdvoltageforthis
deviceliesaround0.45V

History
ThebasicprincipleofthiskindoftransistorwasfirstpatentedbyJuliusEdgarLilienfeldin1925.[3]Twentyfive
yearslater,whenBellTelephoneattemptedtopatentthejunctiontransistor,theyfoundLilienfeldalreadyholdinga
patent,wordedinawaythatwouldincludealltypesoftransistors.BellLabswasabletoworkoutanagreement
withLilienfeld,whowasstillaliveatthattime(itisnotknowniftheypaidhimmoneyornot).Itwasatthattime
theBellLabsversionwasgiventhenamebipolarjunctiontransistor,orsimplyjunctiontransistor,andLilienfeld's
designtookthenamefieldeffecttransistor.
In1959,DawonKahngandMartinM.(John)AtallaatBellLabsinventedthemetaloxidesemiconductorfield
effecttransistor(MOSFET)asanoffshoottothepatentedFETdesign.[4]Operationallyandstructurallydifferent
fromthebipolarjunctiontransistor,[5]theMOSFETwasmadebyputtinganinsulatinglayeronthesurfaceofthe
semiconductorandthenplacingametallicgateelectrodeonthat.Itusedcrystallinesiliconforthesemiconductor

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andathermallyoxidizedlayerofsilicondioxidefortheinsulator.ThesiliconMOSFETdidnotgeneratelocalized
electrontrapsattheinterfacebetweenthesiliconanditsnativeoxidelayer,andthuswasinherentlyfreefromthe
trappingandscatteringofcarriersthathadimpededtheperformanceofearlierfieldeffecttransistors.
DiscretepowerMOSFETsarecurrentlywidelyusedaslowvoltageswitches.

Composition
Usuallythesemiconductorofchoiceissilicon,butsomechip
manufacturers,mostnotablyIBMandIntel,recentlystartedusinga
chemicalcompoundofsiliconandgermanium(SiGe)inMOSFET
channels.Unfortunately,manysemiconductorswithbetterelectrical
propertiesthansilicon,suchasgalliumarsenide,donotformgood
semiconductortoinsulatorinterfaces,andthusarenotsuitablefor
MOSFETs.Researchcontinuesoncreatinginsulatorswithacceptable
electricalcharacteristicsonothersemiconductormaterial.
Inordertoovercometheincreaseinpowerconsumptionduetogatecurrent
leakage,ahighdielectricisusedinsteadofsilicondioxideforthegate
insulator,whilepolysiliconisreplacedbymetalgates(seeIntel
announcement[6]).

Photomicrographoftwometalgate
MOSFETsinatestpattern.Probe
padsfortwogatesandthree
source/drainnodesarelabeled

Thegateisseparatedfromthechannelbyathininsulatinglayer,traditionallyofsilicondioxideandlaterofsilicon
oxynitride.Somecompanieshavestartedtointroduceahighdielectric+metalgatecombinationinthe45
nanometernode.
Whenavoltageisappliedbetweenthegateandbodyterminals,theelectricfieldgeneratedpenetratesthroughthe
oxideandcreatesan"inversionlayer"or"channel"atthesemiconductorinsulatorinterface.Theinversionchannel
isofthesametype,ptypeorntype,asthesourceanddrain,andthusitprovidesachannelthroughwhichcurrent
canpass.Varyingthevoltagebetweenthegateandbodymodulatestheconductivityofthislayerandthereby
controlsthecurrentflowbetweendrainandsource.Thisisknownasenhancementmode.

Operation
Metaloxidesemiconductorstructure
Thetraditionalmetaloxidesemiconductor(MOS)structureisobtainedby
growingalayerofsilicondioxide(SiO2)ontopofasiliconsubstrateand
depositingalayerofmetalorpolycrystallinesilicon(thelatteriscommonly
used).Asthesilicondioxideisadielectricmaterial,itsstructureis
equivalenttoaplanarcapacitor,withoneoftheelectrodesreplacedbya
semiconductor.

Metaloxidesemiconductorstructure
onptypesilicon

WhenavoltageisappliedacrossaMOSstructure,itmodifiesthedistributionofchargesinthesemiconductor.If
weconsideraptypesemiconductor(with thedensityofacceptors,pthedensityofholesp=NAinneutral
bulk),apositivevoltage,
,fromgatetobody(seefigure)createsadepletionlayerbyforcingthepositively
chargedholesawayfromthegateinsulator/semiconductorinterface,leavingexposedacarrierfreeregionof
immobile,negativelychargedacceptorions(seedoping(semiconductor)).If
ishighenough,ahigh
concentrationofnegativechargecarriersformsinaninversionlayerlocatedinathinlayernexttotheinterface
betweenthesemiconductorandtheinsulator.UnliketheMOSFET,wheretheinversionlayerelectronsare
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