EE236: Experiment No.

10 Subthreshold
Characterization of NMOS
Tamojeet Roychowdhury, 21D070079
November 5, 2023

1 Overview of the experiment

1.1 Aim of the experiment
The aim of the experiment was
• To obtain the subthreshold characteristics of NMOS, using a low noise
figure and high noise figure OP-AMPs to amplify the weak current
• To check the continuity of the ID vs VGS characteristics beyond the
subthreshold region by plotting current and voltages for various ranges
• To use the NMOS as a common source amplifier in the sub-threshold
region

2 Theory and Methods

For an NMOS to conduct the voltage difference between gate and source VGS
needs to be above a minimum voltage level VT called the threshold voltage.
In true sense however the MOSFET is not fully off but conducts some small
amount of current. When the gate to source Voltage is less than threshold
voltage, few electrons are still present inside the channel. When drain voltage
is applied, there exists a depletion region near the drain junction and even
lower concentration of minority carriers.
Thus electrons near the source junction begins to move towards drain
junction primarily due to mechanism of diffusion leading to sub-threshold

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current. The equation of drain current in sub-threshold region is given by
the following equation:
 
VGS −VT −VDS

ηVt
Id = I0 e 1−e ηVt

For VDS = 2V , the exponential term goes to 0 hence

 
VGS −VT
ηVt
Id ≈ I0 e

3 Experimental Setup
The following circuit was constructed as depicted below with the OPAMP
used to amplify the current via the resistors. For the TL071 opamp, 20M Ω
was connected from negative terminal to output. For the TLV9161 opamp,
10M Ω and later 1M Ω were used

Figure 1: Circuit used for subthreshold measurements

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 Figure 2: Circuit used for subthreshold amplifier

4 Observations and Results

4.1 Subthreshold transfer characteristics
For TL071, readings were taken from VGS = 0 to 0.46 V, after which Vinv
started deviating from the expected value of 2. The range for 10M Ω in
TLV9161 is same, but for 1M Ω it is from 0.46 to 0.68 V. Current was found
as VinvR−V
1
out
.
Continuity of graph is ensured as can be seen in the graphs below.
In log scale it gives a linear curve w.r.t. VGS because of the equation
given earlier.

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 Figure 3: Subthreshold characteristics with TL071

4.2 Amplifier
At 50 Hz frequency,

Vin = 50mVpp
Vout = 154mVpp
Gain = 3.08

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Figure 4: Subthreshold characteristics with TL9161 over larger voltage range

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 VGS in V Vout in V ID in nA
0.0 2.0 0
0.02 2.0 0
0.04 2.0 0
0.06 2.0 0
0.08 2.0 0
0.1 2.0 0
0.12 2.0 0
0.14 2.0 0
0.16 2.0 0
0.18 2.0 0
0.2 2.0 0
0.22 2.0 0
0.24 2.0 0
0.26 2.0 0
0.28 2.01 0
0.3 2.01 0
0.32 2.02 2
0.34 2.04 4
0.36 2.06 6
0.38 2.1 10
0.4 2.17 16
0.42 2.27 27
0.44 2.42 41
0.46 2.7 70

Table 1: Subthreshold Transfer Characteristics with TLV9161 and R1 =

10M Ω

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 VGS in V Vout in V ID in nA
0.46 2.07 69
0.48 2.11 109
0.5 2.18 180
0.52 2.28 279
0.54 2.42 419
0.56 2.66 660
0.58 3.04 1040
0.6 3.46 1460
0.62 4.05 2050
0.64 4.69 2690
0.66 5.73 3730
0.68 6.9 4900

Table 2: Subthreshold Transfer Characteristics with TLV9161 and R1 =

1M Ω

Figure 5: Subthreshold characteristics with TL9161 over larger voltage range

in log scale which shows it is almost linear

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 VGS in V Vout in V ID in nA
0.0 2.0 0
0.02 2.0 0
0.04 2.0 0
0.06 2.0 0
0.08 2.0 0
0.1 2.0 0
0.12 2.0 0
0.14 2.0 0
0.16 2.0 0
0.18 2.0 0
0.2 2.0 0
0.22 2.0 0
0.24 2.01 0
0.26 2.01 0
0.28 2.02 1
0.3 2.03 1
0.32 2.05 2
0.34 2.08 4
0.36 2.13 6
0.38 2.22 11
0.4 2.36 17
0.42 2.57 28
0.44 2.96 48
0.46 3.51 75

Table 3: Subthreshold Transfer Characteristics with TL071 and R1 = 20M Ω