Performance advantage and energy saving of triangular-shaped FinFETs

Detailed comparisons of FinFETs with triangular and rectangular fins were performed using numerical simulations. Although, with the same leakage current (I_off), the on current (I_dsat) of the triangular fin is less than that of the rectangular one, the 3-stage ring oscillator (RO) with triangular fins runs faster than the one with rectangular fins and consumes less energy due to better short channel control and smaller parasitic capacitance. In addition, with the triangular shape, the two side-channel surfaces are no longer (110) and benefit from reduced negative bias temperature instability (NBTI). All these make the FinFET with a triangular fin a smart choice.