A study on channel design for 0.1 μm buried p-channel MOSFETs

This paper investigates the channel design for buried p-channel MOSFETs with an effective channel length of 0.1 μm via simulations using the two-dimensional device simulator PISCES IIB. A new three-layer design is considered with the objective of obtaining low junction capacitance while maintaining high current drive and suppressing punchthrough. The channel design consists of a p-type layer under the gate oxide, an n-type anti-punchthrough layer below the p-type layer followed the substrate with a doping concentration of 1e17/cm³. By optimizing the doping structure, an attempt is made to investigate fundamental limits of the buried channel design. In concurrence with published results, it is shown that there is a maximum allowable thickness for the first layer, while the thickness of the anti-punchthrough layer has a minimum value in order to effectively suppress punchthrough. The above constraints enable devices with good subthreshold characteristics (subthreshold swing <90 mV/Dec) as well as high transconductance which is a matter of concern for ultra-thin buried layers. While simulation results show that it is possible to fabricate buried p-channel MOSFETs with n-type polysilicon gate electrodes in the 0.1 μm regime, it is also evident that advanced doping and low temperature fabrication technologies are needed that provide control over doped layers of ultra-thin dimensions