In this letter, we have investigated the RF performance of a negative capacitance FinFET (NC-FinFET) using BSIM-CMG compact model extracted from DC and RF measured data of 10-nm technology node devices. This physics-based RF model is then coupled self-consistently with the Landau-Khalatnikov equation to obtain the RF NC-FinFET model. For the first time, we report, here, the impact of ferroelectric thickness ( ${t}_{\textit {fe}}$ ) scaling on RF performance of NC-FinFET and find that NC-FinFET’s cut-off frequency ( ${f}_{\text {T}}$ ) is a function of ${t}_{\textit {fe}}$ . We also observe that the self-heating effect in NC-FinFET increases with increase in ${t}_{\textit {fe}}$ , mainly due to increase in DC current, which can be easily compensated by decreasing supply voltage. Finally, we show that NC-FinFET can achieve similar analog/RF performance as the base FinFET, even at a reduced ${V}_{\mathrm{ DD}}$ .

Evaluation of 10-nm Bulk FinFET RF Performance—Conventional Versus NC-FinFET

On advanced technology nodes, increases in power density, non-planar architectures and different material systems can exacerbate local self-heating due to active power dissipation, which can affect device performance and reliability in various ways This paper presents an overview of the research on self-heating in transistors and discusses modulators, measurement schemes, spatio-temporal sensitivities, and impacts on performance and reliability As the industry continues to scale dimensions and power densities, the significance of self-heating effects will continue to grow, and a robust frame-work to fully assess it, and deal with its impacts to circuits and IP blocks are essential

Self-heating in advanced CMOS technologies

In this paper, RF modeling and step-by-step parameter extraction methodology of the BSIM-IMG model are discussed with experimental data. BSIM-IMG is the latest industry standard surface potential based model for fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) transistors. The impact of gate, substrate, and thermal networks is demonstrated with S-parameter data, which enable the BSIM-IMG model to capture RF behavior of the FDSOI transistor. The model is validated over a wide range of biases and frequencies and excellent agreement with the experimental data is obtained.

RF Modeling of FDSOI Transistors Using Industry Standard BSIM-IMG Model

The march toward dimensional scaling and higher performance has led the semiconductor industry to consider nonplanar topologies and different material systems. These choices have led to an increase in the local power dissipation and, correspondingly, a rise in the local self-heating (SH). This article is a review of the history and trends of SH effects, the characterization techniques thereof, and the manifestations, sensitivities, and impacts of this heating on reliability mechanisms. Future pathways are also highlighted to indicate the challenges that exist for CMOS technologies.

A Review of Self-Heating Effects in Advanced CMOS Technologies

This work presents an in-depth wide-frequency band assessment of 28 nm FDSOI MOSFETs for analogue and RF applications. The focus is mainly on such figures of merit (FoM) as the transconductance gm, the output conductance gd, the intrinsic gain Av and the cut-off frequencies fT and fmax. Firstly, 28 nm FDSOI MOSFETs are compared with other advanced devices and are shown to outperform them. Secondly, gm–Av analogue metric is demonstrated to be affected by operation frequency. Small-signal parameters variation is limited and dominated by self-heating effect. This is in contrast to the first generation of ultra-thin body and BOX devices without a ground plane where coupling through the substrate has a considerable effect. Thirdly, the self-heating effect is analysed and shown to be smaller than previously predicted by simulations for such devices. Fourthly, it is shown that fT of 280 GHz and fmax of 250 GHz are reachable in the shortest devices. These values are compared to those of the first generation of UTBB devices through the effect of parasitic elements.

Wide frequency band assessment of 28 nm FDSOI technology platform for analogue and RF applications

In this letter, we present a thermal network extraction methodology to characterize self-heating effect using two-port RF measurements. We show the technique of determining isothermal condition using only the self-heating (thermal) dominated range of the spectrum. We use a self-consistent self-heating extraction scheme using both the real and imaginary parts of drain port admittance parameters. Appropriate thermal network is investigated, and a large amount of temperature rise due to self-heating is confirmed for short channel silicon-on-insulator MOSFETs with ultrathin body and buried oxide.

O. Faynot

Papers

Extraction of Isothermal Condition and Thermal Network in UTBB SOI MOSFETs