Three-dimensional analysis of subthreshold swing and transconductance for fully-recessed-oxide (trench) isolated 1/4-μm-width MOSFETs

The dependence of MOSFET gate controllability on the field-isolation scheme is investigated using three-dimensional simulation. It is found that a fully-recessed-oxide (trench) isolated MOSFET has a steep subthreshold characteristic and high transconductance in comparison with a nonrecessed device. These features result from the small depletion capacitance due to the crowding of the gate´s fringing field at the channel edge. It is also found that the gate and diffused line capacitances in the case of fully-recessed-oxide isolation are small, so that high switching speed operation can be expected. These features are enhanced with a reduction in the channel width, especially for lower-submicrometer-width MOSFETs. A drawback of a fully-recessed-oxide MOSFETs is its low threshold voltage. However, the leakage current is not as large as that inferred from the inverse narrow-channel effect because of its steep subthreshold characteristic. Several countermeasures for this low threshold voltage are discussed