MOSFET V-I Characteristics

Vijaylakshmi.B
Lecturer, Dept of Instrumentation Tech
Basaveswar Engg. College
Bagalkot, Karnataka

IUCEE-VLSI Design, Infosys, Mysore

Types of Transistors
MOSFET (Types)
 Four types:
 n-channel enhancement mode
• Most common since it is cheapest to manufacture
 p-channel enhancement mode
 n-channel depletion mode

 p-channel depletion mode

n-channel p-channel n-channel p-channel

Depletion type Enhancement type
FET = Field-Effect Transistor
MOSFET
A four terminal device (gate, source, drain,
bulk)

Symbols of
MOSFET
MOSFET characteristics

 Basically low voltage device. High voltage

device are available up to 600V but with limited
current. Can be paralleled quite easily for higher
current capability.
 Internal (dynamic) resistance between drain and
source during on state, RDS(ON), , limits the
power handling capability of MOSFET. High
losses especially for high voltage device due to
RDS(ON) .
 Dominant in high frequency application
(>100kHz). Biggest application is in switched-
mode power supplies.
 The transistor consists of three regions, labeled the
``source'', the ``gate'' and the ``drain''.
 The area labeled as the gate region is actually a
``sandwich'' consisting of the underlying substrate
material, which is a single crystal of semiconductor
material (usually silicon); a thin insulating layer
(usually silicon dioxide); and an upper metal layer.
 Electrical charge, or current, can flow from the
source to the drain depending on the charge applied
to the gate region.
 The semiconductor material in the source and drain
region are ``doped'' with a different type of material
than in the region under the gate, so an NPN or PNP
type structure exists between the source and drain
region of a MOSFET.
•Most important device in digital design

•Very good as a switch

•Relatively few parasitics

•Rather low power consumption

•High integration density

•Simple manufacturing

•Economical for large complex circuits

n-Channel MOSFET
NMOS Structure

 MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) Nowadays gate is made of poly-silicon

􀂉 Channel length L and width W
􀁺 In most digital design, L is set at the minimum feature size
􀁺 W is selectable by the designer
􀂉 Bulk is connected to the Gnd in NMOS to prevent forward-biased PN junction

On state Off state

n-MOSFET Characteristics

Plots V-I characteristics

of the device for various
Gate voltages (VGS)

At a constant value of VDS , we can

also see that IDS is a function of the
Gate voltage, VGS
The transistor begins to conduct
when the Gate voltage, VGS , reaches
the Threshold voltage: VT
PMOS Structure

 PMOS transistor has a negative threshold voltage (Vtp) -0.3v~-1.2v

 A pMOS turns on when Vgs<Vtp
 P-MOSFET Characteristics

The terminal characteristics of the device are given by

drain-to-source current Ids against drain-to-source
voltage Vds for different values of gate-to-source
voltage Vgs. All voltages are referenced with respect
to the source voltage, which is assumed to be at
ground potential.
Switch models of MOSFETs

g=0 g=1

d d d
nMOS g OFF
ON
s s s

d d d

pMOS g OFF
ON
s s s
Thank You