0.5 μm CMOS Device Design and Characterization

The design and characterization of a high performance 0.5 μm channel CMOS is described. The design features thin epi with retrograded n-well, an n⁺ polysilicon gate electrode, 12.5 nm gate oxide, shallow source/drain diffusions, and thin self-aligned titanium silicides. To control channel hot electron degradation effects in the NFET device with 3.3V power supply, different S/D junctions with graded profiles are investigated. The n-well doping profile is adjusted to provide adequate short channel threshold control and punch-through immunity in the buried channel PFET. In this paper, measured device characteristics will be discussed. Stage delays of unloaded inverter ring oscillators down to 90 pS are presented. Circuit performance sensitivities to a variety of parameters such as channel length. power supply and series resistance are also shown.