Investigation of the Electrical Coupling Effect for Monolithic 3-Dimensional Nonvolatile Memory Consisting of a Feedback Field-Effect Transistor Using TCAD.

In this study, the electrical characteristics and electrical coupling effect for monolithic 3-dimensional nonvolatile memory consisting of a feedback field-effect transistor (M3D-NVM-FBFET) were investigated using technology computer-aided design. The M3D-NVM-FBFET consists of an N-type FBFET with an oxide-nitride-oxide layer and a metal-oxide-semiconductor FET (MOSFET) in the top and bottom tiers, respectively. For the memory simulation, the programming and erasing voltages were applied at 18 and -18 V for 1 µs, respectively. The memory window of the M3D-NVM-FBFET was 1.98 V. As the retention simulation was conducted for 10 years, the memory window decreased from 1.98 to 0.83 V. For the M3D-NVM-FBFET, the electrical coupling that occurs through an electrical signal in the bottom-tier transistor was investigated. As the thickness of the interlayer dielectric (TILD) decreases from 100 to 10 nm, the change in the VTH increases from 0.16 to 0.87 V and from 0.15 to 0.84 V after the programming and erasing operations, respectively. M3D-NVM-FBFET circuits with a thin TILD of 50 nm or less need to be designed considering electrical coupling.

A Monolithic 3-Dimensional Static Random Access Memory Containing a Feedback Field Effect Transistor.

A monolithic three-dimensional integrated static random access memory containing a feedback field effect transistor (M3D-FBFET-SRAM) was proposed. The M3D-FBFET-SRAM cell consists of one metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) and one FBFET, and each transistor is located on the top tier and one on the bottom tier in a monolithic 3D integration, respectively. The electrical characteristics and operation of the NFBFET in the M3D-FBFET-SRAM cell were investigated using a TCAD simulator. For SRAM operation, the optimum doping profile of the NFBFET was used for non-turn-off characteristics. For the M3D-FBFET-SRAM cell, the operation of the SRAM and electrical coupling occurring between the top and bottom tier transistor were investigated. As the thickness of interlayer dielectric decreases, the reading 'ON' current decreases. To prevent performance degradation, two ways to compensate for current level were suggested.

Investigation of Tunneling Effect for a N-Type Feedback Field-Effect Transistor.

In this paper, the tunneling effect for a N-type feedback field-effect transistor (NFBFET) was investigated. The NFBFET has highly doped N-P junction in the channel region. When drain-source voltage is applied at the NFBFET, the aligning between conduction band of N-region and valence band of P-region occur, and band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) current can be formed on surface region of N-P junction in the channel of the NFBFET. When the doping concentration of gated-channel region (Ngc) is 4 × 1018 cm-3, the tunneling current makes off-currents increase approximately 104 times. As gate-source voltage is applied to NFBFET, the tunneling rate decreases owing to reducing of aligned region between bands by stronger gate-field. Eventually, the tunneling currents are vanished at the BTBT vanishing point before threshold voltage. When Ngc increase from 4 × 1018 to 6 × 1018, the tunneling current is generated not only at the surface region but also at the bulk region. Moreover, the tunneling length is shorter at the surface and bulk regions, and hence the leakage currents more increase. The BTBT vanishing point also increases due to increase of tunneling rates at surface and bulk region as Ngc increases.

Macro-Modeling for N-Type Feedback Field-Effect Transistor for Circuit Simulation.

In this study, we propose an improved macro-model of an N-type feedback field-effect transistor (NFBFET) and compare it with a previous macro-model for circuit simulation. The macro-model of the NFBFET is configured into two parts. One is a charge integrator circuit and the other is a current generator circuit. The charge integrator circuit consisted of one N-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (NMOSFET), one capacitor, and one resistor. This circuit implements the charging characteristics of NFBFET, which occur in the channel region. For the previous model, the current generator circuit consisted of one ideal switch and one resistor. The previous current generator circuit could implement IDS-VGS characteristics but could not accurately implement IDS-VDS characteristics. To solve this problem, we connected a physics-based diode model with an ideal switch in series to the current generator circuit. The parameters of the NMOSFET and diode used in this proposed model were fitted from TCAD data of the NFBFET, divided into two parts. The proposed model implements not only the IDS-VGS characteristics but also the IDS-VDS characteristics. A hybrid inverter and an integrate and fire (I&F) circuit for a spiking neural network, which consisted of NMOSFETs and an NFBFET, were simulated using the circuit simulator to verify a validation of the proposed NFBFET macro-model.

Electrical Coupling for Monolithic 3-D Integrated Circuit Consisting of Feedback Field-Effect Transistors.

In this study, for two cases of monolithic 3-dimensional integrated circuit (M3DIC) consisting of vertically stacked feedback field-effect transistors (FBFETs), the variation of electrical characteristics of the FBFET was presented in terms of electrical coupling by using technology computer aided design (TCAD) simulation. In the Case 1, the M3DIC was composed with an N-type FBFET in an upper tier (tier2) and a P-type FBFET in a lower tier (tier1), and in the Case 2, it was composed with the FBFETs of opposite type of the Case 1 on each tier. To utilize the FBFET as a logic device, the study on optimal structure of FBFET was first performed in terms of reducing a memory window. Based on the N-type FBFET, the memory window was investigated with different values of doping concentration and length of channel region divided into two regions. The threshold voltage, capacitance, and transconductance of two cases of M3DIC composed with proposed FBFET were investigated for different thickness of an interlayer dielectric (TILD). In the Case 1, only for reverse sweep, the threshold voltage of FBFET in the tier2 was changed significantly at TILD < 15 nm, and the capacitance and transconductance of FBFET in the tier2 changed significantly at TILD < 20 nm, as bottom gate voltage applied with 0 and 1 V. In the Case 2, the electrical characteristics of FBFET in the tier2 changed greater than Case 1 with different TILD.

Investigation of Monolithic 3D Integrated Circuit Inverter with Feedback Field Effect Transistors Using TCAD Simulation.

The optimal structure and process for the feedback field-effect transistor (FBFET) to operate as a logic device are investigated by using a technology computer-aided design mixed-mode simulator. To minimize the memory window of the FBFET, the channel length (Lch), thickness of silicon body (Tsi), and doping concentration (Nch) of the channel region below the gate are adjusted. As a result, the memory window increases as Lch and Tsi increase, and the memory window is minimum when Nch is approximately 9 × 1019 cm-3. The electrical coupling between the top and bottom tiers of a monolithic 3-dimensional inverter (M3DINV) consisting of an n-type FBFET located at the top tier and a p-type FBFET located at the bottom tier is also investigated. In the M3DINV, we investigate variation of switching voltage with respect to voltage transfer characteristics (VTC), with different thickness values of interlayer dielectrics (TILD), Tsi, Lch, and Nch. The variation of propagation delay of the M3DINV with different TILD, Tsi, Lch, and Nch is also investigated. As a result, the electrical coupling between the stacked FBFETs by TILD can be neglected. The switching voltage gaps increase as Lch and Tsi increase and decrease, respectively. Furthermore, the slopes of VTC of M3DINV increase as Tsi and Nch increase. For transient response, tpHL decrease as Lch, Tsi, and Nch increase, but tpLH increase as Lch and Tsi increase and it is almost the same for Nch.