MOSFETS

MOSFET Structure
In order to observe quantum effects at the Si–SiO2 interface, several
conditions must be met:

(a) the SiO2 insulator, of amorphous nature, should have neither

high concentration of impurities nor trapped charge;

(b) the smoothness of the Si–SiO2 interface should be controlled at

the atomic size level, since a rough surface on top of the inversion
channel would greatly decrease the electron mobility in the
inversion layer.
The electron inversion layer can be considered a 2D system of
electrons immersed in a triangular-shaped quantum well, located
in the semiconductor, close to the interface with the oxide.
• The quantized values for the energy of confinement should be
given by

where En corresponds to the quantized energy for the

triangular well.
• The DOS function can be expressed as


mT
n2 D ( E ) = g v
 2

where gv accounts for the degeneracy in the conduction band

valley and mT* , the effective mass.
 HETEROJUNCTION
• Heterojunctions - interfaces between two semiconductors of
• Usually heterojunctions
different gaps. are of III-V compounds
✓ Higher electron mobility
✓ Lower effective mass
• Usually based on III-V compounds
• For Si mobility is 1350 cm 2/Vs and for GaAs,the mobility is 8800
– commonly used - n-type Alx Ga1−x As and almost
cm 2 /Vs or lightly doped p-type GaAs.
intrinsic
➢ Devices based onAlGaAs structures can be used to much
higher frequencies than silicon devices due to the high
mobility of electrons in GaAs.
• Oxides and insulators deposited over GaAs do not present an
interface of sufficient quality - the devices are usually based
on a Schottky structure of the type metal–AlGaAs–GaAs.

This structure is called a modulation-doped heterojunction

and the method to produce it is known as modulation doping.
• Modulation doping – wide bandgap material 1 is doped, deep
potential wells will form in the narrow band gap material 2
that contain most of the electrons from the highly doped wide
band gap material. This amounts to a novel way of doping
material 2, called modulation doping.

• The quantum well for the electrons produced at the AlGaAs–

GaAs interface has a shape close to a triangle

• The electrons forming the 2D inversion layer are free to move

along the (x, y) plane, but their energy for the motion along z
is quantized as in a potential well.
• The charge carriers are located in a region (mainly in the GaAs),
spatially separated from the AlGaAs semiconductor which
originates the free electrons.

• The electrons in the well should have very high mobility for
their motion along the (x, y) plane, since they move within the
GaAs which is free of dopant impurities.

• The well has a finite height ΔEc of 0.35eV for a doping x in

Al x Ga 1−x As around 0.3
 AlGaAs GaAs
EC

EC
EF

Ei Ei
EF

EV
EV
 AlGaAs GaAs

EC

EC
E
F

Ei Ei
EF

EV
EV
 SiGe Strained Heterostructures
• The lattice constant difference between Si and Ge is about 4%.

• Hence the layers grow strained over the substrate and if a

critical thickness is surpassed, the structure will break off.

• Since the energy gaps of silicon (E g = 1.12eV) and germanium

(E g = 0.66eV) are fairly small, the height of the barriers which
appear at the interface will also be small.
• Case (a) allows the formation of a 2D hole gas in the SiGe alloy,
with electron mobilities around 2m2 V−1s −1 , which is about half the
value found for electrons in a typical MOSFET.

• In case (b) the discontinuity in the conduction band is fairly large

and the electrons form a 2D gas, with free motion in the plane of
the interface, with a high mobility of around 20m2V−1s −1

• SiGe heterostructures are commonly used in bipolar silicon

transistors, where a a narrow-bandgap material is used in
the base region, which improves the efficiency of the Si emitter
region
• The strain that appears in the heterojunction also contributes to
the decrease of the bandgap.

• In addition, the large bandgap offset allows the fabrication

of a highly doped, low resistivity, base material, which
extends the performance of silicon transistors to much
higher frequencies.
HOMOJUNCTION BJT
• Bipolar junction transistors should have a high value of the
amplification factor β up to the largest frequencies possible.

• The transit frequency and hence the maximum frequency of

operation depends on the base width. Hence WB << LP.

• Another important parameter is VCB rating. A low doping and

narrow width at the base will reduce the punch through
voltage and hence the VCB rating.
 Hetero junction BJT
• In order to obtain a high β, both the current gain through the
base, α, and the injection efficiency factor of the emitter,
ɣ,should be as close as possible to unity.
Ic D n N de  X e  −E g 
   max  exp 
D p N ab W k B T
Ib
 

• So doping of the emitter region should be much higher than

that of base
• But, as the doping concentration increases, the energy gap of
the semiconductor decreases and hence there will be a notable
reduction in carrier injection from the emitter region to the base
region.

• If the emitter is fabricated using a wide bandgap material, the

amount of injected carriers from the base region to
the emitter region can be reduced, thus improving the
overall injection efficiency of the emitter.

• Hence, hetero junctions can be used as emitter – base junctions

and the transistors are called hetero junction bipolar transistors
(HBT)
• The hetero junction bipolar transistor (HBT) is an
improvement of the bipolar junction transistor (BJT) that can
handle signals of very high frequencies up to several hundred
GHz .

• The principal difference between the BJT and HBT is the use
of different semiconductor materials for the emitter and base
regions, creating a hetero junction.
The band gap of the emitter is larger than that of the base region
and consequently the barrier for the injection of electrons from
the emitter to the base, eVn , is lower than that corresponding to
holes, eVp, which results in a notable increment of the β factor.
• The β factor is proportional to the ratio between the doping
concentration of the emitter and base regions and to the
coefficient exp(ΔEg /kT), where ΔEg is the energy difference
between the value of the wide bandgap of the emitter and the
narrow bandgap of base.

• Hence HBTs can be fabricated with heavily doped base region

with a very low value for base resistance and for the electron
transit time through the base.

• The doping of the emitter can also be somewhat reduced,

resulting in a smaller parasitic capacitance associated to the
emitter–base junction.
Ic D n N de  X e  −E g 
   max  exp 
D p N ab W k B T
Ib
 
• The simultaneous reduction of the base resistance and the
capacitance of the emitter–base junction are essential for
the correct performance of HBTs at high frequencies.

• An HBT can be further improved by grading the composition of the

base layer such that the bandgap energy of the material is
gradually reduced throughout the base

• The grading causes an electric field, which accelerates electrons

traveling through the base region which in turn reduces the transit
time, allowing HBTs to operate at even higher frequencies
DHBT
• The collector region can also be fabricated using wide
bandgap material – the structure is called double HBT or
DHBT.

• The breakdown voltage of the base–collector junction can

be increased .

• In this structure, the emitter and collector terminals can

be interchanged, which facilitates the design of integrated
circuits.
• AlGaAs–GaAs heterojuntions HBTs can be used up to
frequencies of approximately 100 GHz

• The use of InGaAs–InAlAs and InGaAs–InP based

heterostructures allows even higher operating frequencies
(200 GHz)

• III-V semiconductor-based HBTs can be integrated in the

same chip that includes electronic and optoelectronic
devices.

• The most promising of all silicon compounds for the

fabrication of HBTs are SiGe-based alloys, from which
heterojunctions can be formed since the bandgap of silicon
is 1.12 eV, while that of Ge is 0.66 eV
• For the fabrication of Si and SiGe-based HBTs, the Si emitter
region is usually followed by a SiGe base region with bandgap
energy notably smaller than that of Si.

• This bandgap energy difference allows doping of the base

region with relatively high concentrations, thus extending the
allowed operating frequency to values comparable to those of
III-V compounds.

• A gradual base region can be grown, by changing the value of

x in the Ge x Si 1−x compound. This will result in a high built-in
electrical field which results in a reduced transit time for
electrons as they travel through the base
Advantages of HBT
• High fmax and fT
• High breakdown voltage
• High power handling capability
• High transconductance
• Low 1/f noise
• Low base spreading resistance
• High electron mobility
• Can be integrated with HEMTs, MESFETs and Schottky
Diodes
 QUANTUM WELL
MODULATION DOPED QUANTUM WELL

• When the narrow bandgap material GaAs is sandwiched between

wide gap semiconductor material Al x Ga 1−x As, then the resulting
well for electrons and holes would be almost square with a barrier
on each side of the same height
• Since the material inside the well is intrinsic, the electrons inside
the well, which originated at the neighbouring AlGaAs donor-
material, can move into the GaAs region or channel with very high
mobility.

• Quantum well structures with either high or low mobility for

electrons can be fabricated by introducing a controlled amount of
impurities.
 Multiple Quantum Wells (MQW)
• Array of quantum wells is called multiple quantum well.

• Two types –Type I & Type II

• If the wells for electrons and holes are located in the same
space location, the MQW is called Type I
• When the electron and hole wells are located alternately, it is
said to be Type II MQW
• In a MQW system, it is assumed that there is no interaction
between neighboring quantum wells, because the barriers
separating the wells are thick enough, usually more than
about 10nm.

• If the energy barriers between consecutive wells are thin

enough, the wells will be coupled to each other by
tunnelling effects and the discrete energy levels of the
quantum wells are then transformed into energy bands.
Such system of MQWs is called a superlattice.
 Super Lattices
• A superlattice consists of a periodic set of MQW in which the
thickness of the energy barriers separating the individual
wells is made sufficiently small.

• As the barriers become thinner, the electron wave functions

corresponding to the wells overlap due to the tunnelling
effect.

• As a consequence, the discrete energy levels of the wells

broaden and produce energy bands
• According to perturbation theory in quantum mechanics, each
original level, say E1, of the isolated wells splits into two, with
energies

• The two resulting levels are separated in energy by 2|V 12|,

where the magnitude of V12 is an indication of how much one
well can influence the energy states of the neighbouring one,
hence the name overlap integral.
The material has a periodicity d, which is equal to the
breadth of the well ‘a’ plus the thickness of the barrier ‘b’.
Typical thicknesses for a and b could be 4 and 2 nm,
respectively.
➢ Differences between the optical properties of
superlattices and quantum wells.

• In superlattices, the absorption edge is blue-shifted due to the

splitting of the levels into a miniband.

• Also the transitions are smoother, reflecting the density of states

function of a superlattice in comparison with the step function
character of quantum wells.
• Due to the tunnelling of the electrons through the barriers,
the wave function of the exciton extends along several wells
in strongly coupled superlattices. Therefore, the exciton is less
localized and its size and binding energies are smaller than
for quantum wells.

• Weak excitonic features appear also near the transitions from

the bottom of the hole miniband to the top of the electron
miniband
 Kronig–Penney model of a superlattice.
• In 1931, Kronig and Penney established a model for a solid in
which the periodic potential seen by the electrons was
precisely that of the square type for a superlattice potential.

well thickness a, barrier thickness b, and barrier height V 0. The

spatial periodicity is d = a+b.
• In the well region (0 < z < a), V = 0, and the wave function is,

with  ( z ) = Ae ik 0 z
+ Be − ik 0 z
.......... (1)
2mE
k0 =
2

2

d −ik 0 z
= ik0 ( Ae − Be
ik 0 z
).........(2)
dz
Due to tunnelling, the wave function extends into the energy
barrier of height V0 and thickness b. Therefore, if −b < z < 0,

 ( z ) = Ce qz + De− qz ...........(3)

d
= q (Ce qz − De − qz )........(4)
dz
where the wave vector and the energy are related by

 2q 2
V0 − E =
2m
From the conditions that both the wave functions and their
derivatives are continuous at z = 0 and z = a (the origin in z is
taken at the left barrier of the well), we get

 ( z ) = Aeik z + Be− ik z at z = 0
0 0

  ( 0) = A + B and
 ( z ) = Ce + De
qz − qz
at z = 0
  ( 0) = C + D
ie, A + B = C + D..........(5),
since  is continuous at z = 0
Since the derivatives are continuous,

ik0 ( A − B) = q(C − D)......... (6)

According to Bloch theorem, we can relate the wave functions at

two different locations by

 (a) =  (−b)eik ( a +b )
where k is the wave vector corresponding to the Bloch wave
functions.
• Applying this equation to the wave functions corresponding to
the well and the barrier regions,

− ik 0 a
Ae ik 0a
+ Be = (Ce − qb + Deqb )eik0 ( a +b ) ...............(7)
−ik 0a − qb ik 0 ( a + b )
ik0 ( Ae ik 0a
− Be ) = q(Ce − De )e
qb
......(8)

d
= ik0 (Ae
( z ) =−Ae
ik 0 z ik 0−zik 0 z
Be + )Be − ik 0 z
dz
− qz
= q(Ce
qz ( z ) =− qz + De
d qz
− De Ce )
dz
 A+ B = C + D
ik0 ( A − B ) = q(C − D )
−ik 0 a
Aeik 0a
+ Be = (Ce−qb + Deqb )eik0 ( a +b )
ik0 ( Aeik0a − Be−ik0a ) = q(Ce−qb − Deqb )eik0 ( a +b )
The equations can be written as

=0

The above equations have a solution only if the determinant of

the coefficients equals zero
 =0

After expansion and simplification, we get,

q − k0
2
sin k0 a sinh qb + cosqa coshqb = cosq(a + b)......(9)
2qk0
• Assume the simple case of a = b and that the effective mass of
the electron is the same in the well and barrier materials.
For the case of GaAs–AlGaAs and E < V0, solution of Eq. (9)
gives the values of allowed and forbidden energies,
• For values of a larger than about 10 nm, the electron energies
are well defined and correspond to the individual quantum
wells.

• But, when the barrier width is smaller than about 6 nm, bands
as well as forbidden zones arise.
• Nearly Free Electron Model (bulk lattice)

• In the nearly free electron model (NFE), which applies to

crystals, it is assumed that the electrons are subjected to a
periodic potential inside them.

• As a consequence of the periodicity of the crystal, the

electrons can only have values of energy in certain allowed
regions or bands, while some other energy intervals will be
forbidden.
• Due to this periodic potential inside the crystal, there will be
discontinuities in the energy values whenever


k= n where n = 1,2... .....(10)
a

• The energy bands and gaps for the above 1D model are
shown. This is the usual extended zone representation, where
the E = E(k) curve is similar to the free electron parabola,
except at the values of k given by Eq. (10), where gaps open
up.
• The free electron parabola will break down into several bands
and gaps at the edges of the Brillouin zones k = ±nπ/d,
• The portions of the bands can be translated to the reduced
zone (–π/d ≤ z ≤ +π/d).

• In this case everything occurs as if the superlattice potential

folds the quasi-free energy band of a solid into the centre of
the reduced zone, if we make the representation in the first
Brillouin zone.

• Since, usually d>> a, the breadth of the bands and gaps in a

superlattice are much smaller, often receiving the names of
minibands and minigaps.
• This band folding procedure is typical of superlattices and is
called zone folding since it implies that the pieces of the band
in the extended representation are zone-folded into the
smaller zone with values of k smaller than 2π/d.

• The zone-folding effect has important consequences in the

direct or indirect character of semiconductor
structures.