Characterization of low 1/f noise in MOS transistors

Abstract

By careful processing MOS transistors have been fabricated with a low value of the interface states density (2 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">10</sup> /cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> eV). Consequently the <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1/f</tex> noise in these devices is low and in the same order of magnitude as for junction FETs. The experimental values of the equivalent noise voltage and the equivalent noise current are compared to an expression derived from straight physical arguments. From the comparison it is concluded that the noise equivalent voltage in saturated operation is proportional to the effective gate voltage, the interface state density, and inversely proportional to the gate input capacitance. Moreover, it is concluded that a proper heat treatment not only reduces the number of states but also removes the near bandedge peaks, which usually appear in the trap distribution function.