Large-scale statistical simulation of characteristic variation in 16-nm-gate Bulk FinFET devices due to work function fluctuation

We, for the first time, study the work-function fluctuation induced variability in 16-nm-gate bulk FinFET using an experimentally calibrated 3D device simulation. Random nanosized grains of TiN gate are statistically positioned in the gate region to examine the associated carrier transportation characteristics, concurrently capturing “grain number variation” and “grain position fluctuation.” The methodology of localized work-function fluctuation simulation enables us to estimate various characteristic fluctuations and to examine the random grain´s number and position effect for 16-nm-gate bulk FinFETs with TiN/HfO₂ gate stacks with respect to the aspect ratio (AR = fin height/fin width).