RF noise scaling trend of MOSFETs from 0.5 μm to 0.13 μm technology nodes

As scaling down the MOSFET, the f_t keeps increasing but the minimum noise figure (NF_min) is difficult to scale down due to the increasing gate resistance. In this study, the NF_min can be continuously reduced to 0.13 μm technology node (80 nm gate length) by optimizing finger number and channel width. Excellent NF_min of only 0.87 dB is measured with 4μm finger width and multiple 72 fingers. In addition, high associated gain (22.5dB), low RF noise (1.0 dB), and low power can be simultaneously achieved in 0.13 μm mode MOSFETs using only 6 fingers that is impossible in 0.18μm case. We have also predicted the future scaling trend of RF noise beyond 0.13μm mode from measured data and well calibrated Fukui´s equation.