Variable gate oxide thickness MOSFET: A device level solution for sub-threshold leakage current reduction

Scaling down in the MOSFET technology has been the important factor for continuous advancement in the semiconductor industry. As the technology scaling is entering the nanometer regime, one of the prominent features which come into the scenario are the short-channel effects (SCEs). Because of the SCEs, subthreshold leakage current has been the serious problem being faced by the scaled devices. At the device level, channel engineering and the threshold voltage lowering are the methods which were followed to control the subthreshold leakage current. In this paper, a new MOSFET device based on the variation of the gate oxide thickness to lower the subthreshold leakage current has been proposed. The TCAD (Technology Computer Aided Design) simulation results show the reduction of the subthreshold leakage current.