Device-conscious circuit designs for 0.5-V high-speed memory-rich nanoscale CMOS LSIs

The feasibility of 0.5-V memory-rich nanoscale CMOS LSIs was studied. First, repair techniques and nanoscale FD-SOI MOSTs are discussed in terms of V_t-variation. Second, sub-0.5-V dual-V_DD dual-V_t logic circuits are proposed and evaluated by simulation with a 25-nm planar FD-SOI MOST, followed by an investigation of a 0.5-V 1-Gb SRAM/DRAM. Third, the importance of using compensation circuits for process, voltage, and temperature variations is stressed. Finally, it is concluded that a 0.5-V memory-rich CMOS LSI is possible while reducing the power to one-tenth that of a conventional 1-V CMOS LSI if the above devices and circuits are used and the within-wafer V_t-variation is compensated for.