STI Effect on Flicker Noise in 0.13-μm RF NMOS

This paper reports the effect of shallow-trench-isolation (STI) on generation-recombination (G-R) noise and flicker noise variation in 0.13-μm RF MOSFETs for the first time. The devices with relatively small finger widths (W = 1 μm/N_finger = 40 and W= 5 μm/N_finger = 8) presented more pronounced G-R noise compared to those with W= 10 mum/N_finger = 4 devices. In addition, a wide variation of noise levels was observed for devices with smaller finger widths and more finger numbers. The results can be explained by the effect of STI, which affects the carrier mobility due to the compressive stress, also generates traps at the edge of STI region resulting in G-R noise. Moreover, the metals employed in 0.13-μm CMOS technology, Cu and Co, may also be responsible for the G-R noise observed in the devices.