Simulation of noise mechanisms in scaled bulk and partially depleted silicon-on-insulator field-effect transistors

The focus of this dissertation is on the simulation and measurement of low frequency noise in highly scaled bulk and Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect devices (MOSFETs). To further the capability of simulating noise in such devices, the Florida Object-Oriented Device Simulator (FLOODS) has been extended to be able to use the Energy Balance system of equations. An advanced surface mobility model is added, and the noise capability of this numerical device simulator is modified to include the mechanism of direct band to oxide trap tunneling for the simulation of degenerate devices.; The derivation of the Energy Balance model and other high-order models is presented, and the correct insertion of noise sources into these models is described. Simple test cases are used to demonstrate the simulation of noise using the model implementation and the effects of this model as compared to the Drift-Diffusion model.; Noise measurements are taken for bulk and SOI MOSFETs, and simulations are performed to match the conditions of the measurements. The shape of the low frequency noise is used to profile the active traps in the gate oxides. While higher order moments than Drift-Diffusion gave anomalous DC simulation results for the devices measured, Drift-Diffusion results are compared to the measured DC and noise data with good agreement, and error correction for quantization effects is computed.; Though the original intended usage of the Energy Balance model was not performed, the Drift Diffusion simulations gave good agreement to the measured data, and this work represents the most complete PDE-based numerical simulation of noise in such devices to date. The analysis provides reverse-engineering of the number and the location of traps in the oxide of the devices measured, which was a primary goal for this work. The error correction for quantization effects validates that quasi-classical numerical simulation is applicable to highly scaled devices. This work also provides encouragement that future work can extend the use of this methodology to emerging device technologies.