Understanding FinFETs: The Complex World of Advanced Transistors

📚 FinFETs are a new type of device that attracted a lot of attention.

⚙️ FinFET technology has complex issues associated with it, such as processing variability and time-dependent variability.

🔬 There is a benchmark between bulk devices and SOI-based devices to compare their differences and potential.

📚 FinFETs are a type of transistor that have a vertical channel and gates around the channel, creating conceptual problems for designers.

🔧 There are two flavors of FinFETs: bulk FinFETs, adopted by major providers, and FinFETs on SOI substrate, which have better control over transistor dimensions but may have self-heating effects.

💡 FinFETs offer a more complicated operation compared to planar transistors, and their variability poses challenges for scaling SRAM in small devices.

🔑 FinFETs are a type of transistor that have a different charge distribution compared to depleted transistors.

💡 Current flow in FinFETs is non-uniform, with most of the current flowing in the middle at threshold voltage and through the corners at high gate voltage.

📈 FinFETs have better suppression swap in both transistors, resulting in lower subthreshold swap and potential advantages in terms of leakage and performance.

🔑 FinFETs introduce additional capacitances due to vertical fin geometry and overgrown source and drain regions, resulting in complex capacitance variations.

🏗️ FinFET fabrication is more complex and involves vertical etching and epitaxial growth, leading to variations in fin shape and contact resistance.

🔬 Device simulation of FinFETs is challenging due to their complex geometry, including triangular or trapezoidal structures and quantum confinement effects.

⚡ Triangular FinFET geometry may have reliability issues and suboptimal performance compared to vertical FinFETs.

🔑 FinFETs are difficult to fabricate uniformly and their performance is affected by variations in shape.

💡 Compared to rectangular transistors, FinFETs have lower performance by 10 to 12 percent.

🔬 A case study comparing bulk and SOI transistors showed that SOI FinFETs had higher performance and lower leakage current.

🔍 It is important to consider process variability and control different aspects of the device geometry in FinFET design.

📊 There is a strong correlation between statistical and process variability in FinFETs, which affects device performance.

🔬 Compact models can accurately capture process variation and help analyze the impact on circuit design, such as SRAM.

🔑 Monte Carlo simulation can be used to predict the performance and behavior of FinFETs, allowing for more complex analysis of SRAM designs.

📊 Good compact models combined with statistical variability can show the interplay between process and statistical variability, helping to understand the impact on SRAM design.

⚙️ Simulation is crucial in predicting future technology and estimating the impact of different devices and degradation on SRAM cell designs.