Technology Assessment Methodology for Complementary Logic Applications Based on Energy–Delay Optimization

Historically, the off-state current I_off and the supply voltage Vdd are specified as technology targets for Si metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) at each technology node. Emerging device technologies such as III-V transistors, carbon-nanotube FETs (CNFETs), and tunneling FETs (TFETs) are often targeted to outperform Si MOSFETs at the same I_off and Vdd values. However, the conclusions from the conventional methodology are limited for advanced technology and diversified applications, when Dennard scaling is inefficient and different device structures are invented. We present a new device-technology assessment methodology based on energy-delay optimization, which takes into consideration key circuit-level information, such as logic depth, activity factors, and fanout (FO). Our methodology starts from device I- V and C -V characteristics and treat I_off and Vdd as “free variables.” Together with device and supply-voltage variations, we obtain a corresponding and different optimal set of I_off and Vdd and optimal energy-delay for each emerging device. We show that today´s best available III-V transistors and CNFETs can outperform the best Si FETs by 1.5-2 and 2-3.5 times in terms of energy efficiency, respectively. Projected into the 10-nm-gate-length regime, III-V-on-insulator, CNFETs, and TFETs are 1.25, 2-3, and 5-10 times better than the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors target, for FO1 delays of 0.3, 0.1, and 1 ns, respectively.