Role of Lateral Diffusion Current in Perimeter-Dependent Current of MOS(p) Tunneling Temperature Sensors

P-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) tunneling temperature sensors with two different gate electrodes (area = 2.25×10^-4 and 9 × 10^-4 cm²) were examined with temperatures of 35 °C, 50 °C, 65 °C, and 80 °C. By investigating the current divided by area and perimeter, we found that the current under the inversion region is not dominated by the generation current but by the Schottky diode hole current at the edge of the device, which is induced by the temperature-dependent lateral electron diffusion current. This result reveals that the perimeter is a more important factor than the area in designing MOS tunneling temperature sensors, which can be properly integrated in CMOS technology.