Electrical characteristics of FinFET with vertically nonuniform source/drain doping profile

The effects of a nonuniform source/drain (S/D) doping profile on the FinFET characteristics are investigated using three-dimensional device simulation. With a fixed S/D doping profile, larger silicon-on-insulator (SOI) thickness can suppress short-channel effects due to the coexistence of longer channel regions. There can be some design margin in the channel thickness due to this reduced short-channel effect. Drain saturation current in FinFET is proportional to the effective device width and SOI thickness. To determine the appropriate SOI thickness of FinFET, alternating current (AC) characteristics are investigated. Device capacitance increases with SOI thickness, but this is not for the gate delay, as the drive current also increases and compensates for the increase of capacitance. When driving a constant capacitance load such as interconnect, devices with larger drain current or thicker SOI are more favorable for the fixed S/D doping condition.