Theory and Experiments of the Impact of Work-Function Variability on Threshold Voltage Variability in MOS Devices

Author

Zhang, Xiao ; Mitard, Jerome ; Ragnarsson, Lars-Ake ; Hoffmann, Tomas ; Deal, Michael ; Grubbs, Melody E. ; Li, Jing ; Magyari-Kope, Blanka ; Clemens, Bruce M. ; Nishi, Yoshio

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Leland Stanford Junior Univ., Stanford, CA, USA

Volume

59

Issue

11

fYear

2012

Firstpage

3124

Lastpage

3126

Abstract

A model for work-function variability (WFV) based on grain orientation differences of the polycrystalline metal gate is proposed, and the impact of the WFV on device and circuit performance is investigated. The model predicts that the WFV will surpass random dopant fluctuation beyond the 22-nm technology node and become the dominant factor to significantly increase static RAM failure probabilities. The prediction is verified through experimental characterization and analysis.

Keywords

MOSFET; failure analysis; probability; random-access storage; semiconductor device models; semiconductor device reliability; MOS devices; MOSFET; WFV; grain orientation; polycrystalline metal gate; random dopant fluctuation; size 22 nm; static RAM failure probability; threshold voltage variability; work-function variability; Integrated circuit modeling; Logic gates; Random access memory; Resource description framework; Semiconductor device modeling; MOSFETS; Metal gate; variability; work function (WF);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2012.2212021

Filename

6290353