Post on 04-Apr-2018
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THE P-CHANNEL MOSFET
A p-channel enhancement-type MOSFET (PMOS transistor), fabricated on
an n-type substrate with p+ regions for the drain and source. The device operates in
the same manner as the n- channel enhancement MOSFET except that vGS
and vDS
are negative and the threshold voltage Vt is negative. Also, the current iD enters the
source terminal and leaves through the drain terminal.
PMOS technology originally dominated MOS manufacturing. However,
because NMOS devices can be made smaller and thus operate faster, and because
NMOS historically required lower supply voltages than PMOS, NMOS technology
has virtually replaced PMOS.
COMPLEMENTARY MOS OR CMOS
Figure 1.7 Cross-Section of a CMOS IC.
As the name implies, complementary MOS technology employs MOS
transistors of both polarities. Indeed, at the present time CMOS is the most widely
used of all the IC technologies.
Figure 1.7 shows a cross-section of a CMOS chip illustrating how the
PMOS and NMOS transistors are fabricated. Observe that while the NMOS
transistor is implemented directly in the p-type substrate. The PMOS transistor is
fabricated in a specially created n region, known as an n well. The two devices are
isolated from each other by a thick region of oxide that functions as an insulator.
OPERATING THE MOS TRANSISTOR IN THE SUBTHRESHOLD
REGION
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The n-channel MOSFET operation implies that for vGS< Vt, no current flows
and the device is cut off. This is not entirely true, for it has been found that for
values of vGS smaller than but close to Vt, a small drain current flows. In this
subthreshold region of operation the drain current is exponentially related to vGS.
Although in most applications the MOS transistor is operated with vGS > Vt, there
are special, but a growing number of, applications that make use of subthreshold
operation.
CURRENT-VOLTAGE CHARECTERISTICS
Circuit Symbol
Figure 1.8 (a) Circuit symbol for the n-channel enhancement-type MOSFET. (b) Simplified
circuit symbol to be used when the source is connected to the body.
The iD-vDS Characteristics
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Figure 1.9(a) An n-channel enhancement-type MOSFET with vGS and vDS applied and with thenormal directions of current flow indicated. (b) The iDvDS characteristics.
Figure 1.9 (a) shows an n-channel enhancement-type MOSFET with
voltages vGS and vDS applied and with the normal directions of current flow
indicated. This conceptual circuit can be used to measure the iD-vDS characteristics,which are a family of curves, each measured at a constant vGS.
The characteristic curves in Fig. 4.11(b) indicate that there are three distinct
regions of operation, the cutoff region, the triode region, and the saturation region.
The device is cut off when vGS < Vt.
To operate the MOSFET in the triode region , a channel must be induced,
vGSVt, and then keep vDS small enough so that the channel remains continuous.
This condition can be stated explicitly in terms of vDS by writing vDS
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gate-to-drain voltage falling below Vt. This condition can be stated explicitly in
terms of vDS by writing vDSvGS - Vt.
In the saturation region, the iD-vDS characteristics can be described by the
relationship of
Thus in saturation the MOSFET provides a drain current whose value is
independent of the drain voltage vDS and is determined by the gate voltage vGS.
Since the drain current is independent of the drain voltage, the saturated MOSFET
behaves as an ideal current source whose value is controlled by vGS.
Figure 1.10 Large-signal equivalent-circuit model of an n-channel MOSFET operating in the
saturation region.
Figure 1.10 shows a circuit representation of MOSFET operation in the
saturation region. Note that this is a large-signal equivalent-circuit model.
FINITE OUTPUT RESISTANCE IN SATURATION
That in saturation, iD is independent of vDS. Thus a change in the
drain-to-source voltage vDS causes a zero change in iD, which implies that the
incremental resistance looking into the drain o f a saturated MOSFET is infinite.
That once the channel is pinched off at the drain end, further increases in vDS have
no effect on the channel's shape. But, in practice, as vDS is increased, the channel
pinch-off point is slightly moved. Specifically, away from the drain, toward thesource.
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Figure 1.11 Increasing vDSbeyond vDSsat causes the channel pinch-off point to move slightly away
from the drain, thus reducing the effective channel length.
This is illustrated in Fig. 1.11, from which we note that the voltage across
the channel remains constant at vGS -Vt= vDSsat, and the additional voltage appliedto the drain appears as a voltage drop across the narrow depletion region between
the end of the channel and the drain region. This voltage accelerates the electrons
that reach the drain end of the channel and sweeps them across the depletion region
into the drain. Note that the channel length is reduced, from L to L-L. This
phenomenon is known as channel-length modulation. Since iD is inversely
proportional to the channel length, iD increases with vDS. We replace L with L-L.
Assume that L/L
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Figure 1.12 Effect ofvDSon iD in the saturation regionby the factor (1 + vDS).
In the saturation region the output resistance ro is
Where
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Figure 1.13 Large-signal equivalent circuit model of the n-channel MOSFET in saturation,
incorporating the output resistance ro.
Characteristics of the p-Channel MOSFET
The circuit symbol for the p-channel enhancement-type MOSFET is shown
in Fig.1.14 (a), in which an arrowhead pointing in the normal direction of current
flow is included on the source terminal.
The voltage and current polarities for normal operation are indicated in Fig. 1.14
(b). For t h e p-channel device the threshold voltage Vt is negative. To induce a
channel we apply a gate voltage that is more negative than Vt, i.e. vGS Vt. When a
drain voltage vDS is more negative than the source voltage, the current iD flows out
of the drain terminal, as indicated in the figure.
To operate in the triode region vDS must satisfy vDS vGS - Vt. The current iDis given by
Figure 1.14 (a) Circuit symbol for the p-channel enhancement-type MOSFET. (b) The MOSFET
with voltages applied and the directions of current flow indicated.
To operate in the saturation region vDS must satisfy vDS vGS - Vt. The
current iD is given by
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The Role of the Substrate-The Body Effect
In many applications the source terminal is connected to the substrate (body)
terminal B, which results in the pn junction between the substrate and the induced
channel having a constant zero bias. In such a case the substrate does not play any
role in circuit operation.
In integrated circuits, the substrate is usually common to many MOS
transistors. In order to maintain the cutoff condition for all the substrate-to-
channel junctions, the substrate is usually connected to the most negative power
supply in an NMOS circuit and the most positive in a PMOS circuit. The resulting
reverse-bias voltage between source and body will have an effect on device
operation.Let us consider an NMOS transistor and its substrate be made negative
relative to the source. The reverse bias voltage will widen the depletion region.
This in turn reduces the channel depth. To return the channel to its former state,
vGS has to be increased. The effect of VSB on the channel can be most conveniently
represented as a change in the threshold voltage Vt. Specifically, it has been shown
that increasing the reverse substrate bias voltage VSB results in an increase in Vt,
according to the relationship
Where Vto is threshold for VSB = 0; fis a physical parameter with (2 f) typically
0.6 V; i s a fabrication-process parameter given by
Where q is the electron charge (1.6 x 1 0-19
C), NA is the doping concentration of
the p-type substrate, and s is the permittivity of silicon (11.7 o = 11.7 x 8.854 x
10
-1 4
= 1.04 x 1 0
-12
F/cm).The above equation indicates that an incremental change in VSB gives rise to
an incremental change in Vt which in turn results in an incremental change in iD
even though vGS might have been kept constant. It follows that the body voltage
controls iD; thus the body acts as another gate for the MOSFET, a phenomenon
known as the body effect.