Low frequency noise characterization in 0.13 μm p-MOSFETs.: Impact of scaled-down 0.25, 0.18 and 0.13 μm technologies on 1/f noise

This paper presents an experimental analysis of the noise measurements performed in 0.13 mum technology p-MOS transistors operating from weak to strong inversion in ohmic and saturation regimes. The 1/f noise origin is interpreted in terms of carrier number with correlated mobility fluctuations. The contribution of the access resistance noise is noticed for large overdrive voltages. The slow oxide trap density N-t(E-F) and the Coulomb scattering noise parameter as have been extracted. Then the 1/f noise level in the three scaled-down p-MOSFETs generations (0.25, 0.18 and 0.13 mum) is compared. The variation of the noise parameter values is discussed with respect to the technology node. The highest oxide trap density is obtained for the thinnest gate oxide. It is concluded that the oxide thinning should lead to noise reduction only if the product t(ox)(2).N-t is taken into consideration. This trend will be significant in future scaled-down MOSFETs. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.