Title :
CMOS operation below freezeout
Author_Institution :
Rockwell Int. Sci. Center, Anaheim, CA, USA
Abstract :
A description is given of a cryogenic CMOS process, Rockwell Cryogenic CMOS (RC2), for use in readout circuits for impurity band conduction detectors that must operate at a temperature of 12 K or less. The RC2 process has been successfully used to implement both analog and digital circuits that operate very well at 10 K. The behavior of RC2 FETs in the weak inversion region is discussed. To minimize the power consumption of the large arrays of analog detector readout circuits, the subthreshold region of FET operation is utilized. MOSFETs at these temperatures exhibit the kink effect and have long time constants to reach equilibrium after a large bias change, which must be considered in circuit design. It is concluded that the RC2 approach has overcome some of the major obstacles to basic functionality of circuits at temperatures below freezeout and in weak as well as strong inversion
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; digital readout; infrared detectors; insulated gate field effect transistors; integrated circuit technology; low-temperature techniques; 7 to 12 K; FET operation; IR detectors; MOSFETs; Rockwell Cryogenic CMOS; analogue circuits; cryogenic CMOS process; digital circuits; freezeout; impurity band conduction detectors; kink effect; power consumption; readout circuits; strong inversion; subthreshold region; time constants; weak inversion region; CMOS process; Cryogenics; Detectors; Digital circuits; Energy consumption; FETs; Impurities; MOSFETs; Sensor arrays; Temperature;
Conference_Titel :
Low Temperature Semiconductor Electronics, 1989., Proceedings of the Workshop on
Conference_Location :
Burlington, VT
DOI :
10.1109/LTSE.1989.50179
