1/F NOISE IN CMOS TRANSISTORS FOR ANALOG

APPLICATIONS FROM SUBTHRESHOLD TO SATURATION

C. JAKOBSON, I. BLOOM and Y. NEMIROVSKY
Kidron Microelectronics Research Center, Faculty of Electrical Engineering Technion, Israel Institute
of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
(Received 12 October 1997; in revised form 6 January 1998)
AbstractDetailed noise measurements of the 1/f noise in p- and n-mos transistors for analog appli-
cations are reported under various bias conditions ranging from subthreshold to saturation. The
CMOS transistors under study have a relatively large area, exhibit long channel behavior and are fabri-
cated in a commercial ``low noise process'', as prescribed for analog applications. A clear methodology
and useful models for the power spectral densities of the gate voltage and drain current are presented
and are based on recent studies in sub-micron transistors that have established the physical origin of 1/
f noise in MOS transistors. In saturation, it is found that it is advisable to limit the bias voltages to
values that are experimentally determined from the transconductance characteristics and correspond to
a nearly constant channel mobility. The experimentally observed reduction in channel mobility indicates
the existence of strong elds that induce additional oxide charging and hence an increase in the eective
density of oxide traps and the noise. In the bias voltages where channel mobility is nearly constant, the
measured input-referred noise power is practically constant. Below threshold voltage, a reduction is
observed in the input-referred noise as gate voltage is decreased, corresponding to the prediction of the
model and due to the exponential reduction of the inversion capacitance with gate voltage. This beha-
vior is observed for both n-mos and p-mos transistors. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
1. INTRODUCTION
CMOS transistors are often required as ``building
blocks'' in circuits for analog applications. CMOS
transistors are preferred for dense, low voltage and
low power applications. While the advantages of
CMOS technology are well established, there is a
major drawback for analog applications: the MOS
transistors are ``noisy'', even in the so called ``ana-
log low noise'' fabrication processes. The analog
designer faces a formidable challenge: how to design
low noise analog channels with CMOS technology,
taking advantages of the unique features of the
technology and reducing the noise by using appro-
priately the available design parameters.
The noise in CMOS transistors is usually domi-
nated by 1/f noise up to relatively high frequencies
of the order of several tens of kHz. The origin of 1/
f noise in CMOS transistors has been the subject of
numerous studies and controversy ([110], and
references therein). This controversy has been to a
large extent resolved by recent studies that focused
on the microscopic origins of the noise, namely ran-
dom telegraph noise in sub-micron MOSFETS[11
16]. In sub-micron MOSFETs the trappingdetrap-
ping of single inversion carriers at the SiSiO
2
inter-
face causes discrete modulations of the channel
conductance in the form of random telegraph sig-
nals (RTSs). It has been shown that the superposi-
tion of even several RTSs is sucient to give rise to
1/f noise in MOSFETs[1]. Recently, a new
approach to carrier trappingdetrapping 1/f noise
which avoids the oversimplied assumptions that
are usually used to explain 1/f noise, has been pre-
sented[17,18]. By considering the current non-uni-
formities observed in the sub-micron MOSFETS,
the physical picture for the origin of 1/f noise in
ordinary MOSFETs transistors, which accounts for
both carrier number and mobility uctuations, has
been recently established[1118].
However, there is still a considerable gap between
the recent enormous advance in the physical under-
standing of the origin of 1/f noise in CMOS transis-
tors and the requirements of the practitioner
engineer who needs to model and optimize the 1/f
noise of the transistors. Analog designers and users
rely on empirical relation which can be of the
form[19]
S
I
=
Mg
2
m
C
2
ox
ZL
1
f
b
, (1)
where S
I
is the drain current 1/f noise spectral den-
sity, M is an empirical parameter, Z and L are, re-
spectively, the width and channel length, C
ox
is the
oxide capacitance per unit area, g
m
is the transcon-
ductance, and b is a parameter which is close to 1
in a wide frequency range and in any case varies in
a narrow range from 0.8 to 1.2.
It is usually found that ``cleaner'' fabrication pro-
cesses result in lower values for M, other things
being equal. A ``low noise analog process'' is tai-
Solid-State Electronics Vol. 42, No. 10, pp. 18071817, 1998
# 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain
0038-1101/98/$ - see front matter
PII: S0038-1101(98)00162-2
1807
lored to yield lower values of M. However, even
state-of-the art ASIC VLSI CMOS processes do
not predict the value of M and the tolerance in M
while other electrical parameters such as at band
voltage, threshold voltage, etc., are well specied
and characterized.
Furthermore, Equation (1) expresses the drain
current 1/f noise spectral density while for certain
applications the noise referred to input is more sig-
nicant for the analysis of the overall system signal
to noise ratio. In many cases, for example in analog
channels for X-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy,
the spectral resolution is dominated by the 1/f gate
voltage noise of the MOS transistor that resides in
the input of a CMOS charge sensitive preampli-
er[20]. Since S
I
=g
m
2
S
Vgs
, the power spectral density
of 1/f gate voltage noise is:
S
Vg
=
M
C
2
ox
ZL
1
f
b
X (2)
In this case, the noise contribution does not appear
to fundamentally depend on the operation region
(subthreshold or saturation) while actual measure-
ments indicate that the power spectral density of 1/f
gate voltage noise varies between subthreshold to
saturation and depends on the gate voltage. Such
dependence can be introduced only by a possible
dependence of M on the operation point. Hence, it
is highly desirable, even for the practical engineer,
to have a model that will relate M to the electrical
and geometrical parameters of the transistors as
well as to the fabrication technology.
In this paper we model 1/f noise in MOS transis-
tors from subthreshold to saturation. The paper
focuses on relatively large area transistors which
obey the ``long channel'' approximations, since ana-
log applications currently rely on such transistors
and not on sub-micron transistors (note: one of the
reasons to use large-scale transistors in analog ap-
plications is that noise is inversely proportional to
scale, as discussed in Section 6). We start with a
physical model that describes well both n-mos and
p-mos transistors provided they exhibit ``long chan-
nel'' behavior and the gate and drain bias voltages
are relatively low so that the decrease in channel
mobility is negligible. Subsequently we dene the
methodology for calculating 1/f noise in MOS tran-
sistors in a wide range of operating regimes, empha-
sizing the assumptions and the approximations
required to obtain a useful result for the analog de-
sign engineer. We then report 1/f noise measure-
ments of p- and n-MOS transistors fabricated in a
``low noise analog'' CMOS process[21]. The noise
measurements cover the operation regimes from
subthreshold to saturation. The measurements are
investigated in light of the modeling presented in
this paper. The common empirical approach that
appears for example in SPICE[19], is critically dis-
cussed. Finally, the results of this study are inter-
preted in terms of the needs of CMOS low
frequency, low noise analog circuits. In particular,
the eect of gate voltage upon noise, usually
ignored by analog designers, is illuminated.
2. THE PHYSICAL MODEL
2.1. The origin of 1/f noise in MOSFETs
It has been established that capture and emission
at single, individual traps in the SiO
2
gate oxide of
sub-micron MOSFETs cause discrete modulations
of the source-drain conductance in the form of ran-
dom telegraph signals (RTSs)[1116]. While the
superposition of even few (several) RTSs already
gives rise to 1/f noise, in ordinary MOSFETs, the
superposition includes a large number of traps,
resulting in 1/f noise. Furthermore, in sub-micron
MOSFETs, the amplitude of an RTS is shown to
depend on the channel non-uniformity and, in par-
ticular, on the local current density in the immedi-
ate vicinity of the trap center. In large-scale
MOSFETs with the large number of charge carriers
and traps involved, neighboring traps may interact
and the channel current non-uniformity is smeared
out[16].
Thus, it is now recognized that the physical ori-
gin of low frequency noise in MOSFETs is basically
the carrier number uctuation theory known also as
the trappingdetrapping model, originally proposed
by McWhorter. The low frequency noise is caused
primarily by uctuation of the number of inversion
layer carriers as they are trapped and detrapped to
and from traps located in the oxide. These uctu-
ations can also induce uctuations in the channel
mobility of the remaining carriers in the channel
since the traps act as scattering sites when they cap-
ture a carrier. However, in large-scale MOSFETs,
in particular in strong inversion, the Coulomb
eects are eectively screened by the gate and the
channel and these induced mobility uctuations are
normally negligible[16].
2.2. Application of the trappingdetrapping model
According to the trappingdetrapping model,
known also as the number uctuating model[16],
the channel exchanges carriers with the oxide traps
by several types of transitions, including thermally
activated processes and tunneling, depending on the
nature of the trap and the operation conditions.
The model assumes that there is an exponential
dependence of capture and release rates upon trap
depth in the oxide. It is also assumed that oxide
traps are uniformly distributed in space and energy.
The new approach presented in Refs[17,18] avoids
these oversimplied assumptions and therefore sig-
nicantly increases the condence in the physical
picture of the trappingdetrapping model.
Based on the assumptions discussed above and
often cited in the literature, S
Not
/ (f) the power
C. Jakobson et al. 1808
spectral density of the uctuations in the number of
occupied traps, denoted by N
ot
', can be expressed
by
S
Not
/ ( f) = N
ot
LZ
1
f
, (3)
where LZ is the gate area (channel length L times
the gate width Z) and N
ot
[cm
2
] is the equivalent
density of oxide traps per unit area.
3. METHODOLOGY OF MODELING 1/F NOISE IN LONG
CHANNELS MOS TRANSISTORS
The methodology is based on the following: the
power spectral densities of two uctuating physical
parameters are readily obtained from the given re-
lationship between the two parameters provided the
two parameters are related by a constant under-
neath the constraints of the measurement. For
example since dI
d
=g
m
dV
g
, then S
I
d
(f) = g
m
2
S
Vg
(f).
The physical model determines the power spectral
density of the uctuations in the number of occu-
pied traps. The rest is determined by MOS theory
which denes the relationship between the number
of oxide traps, the number of carriers in the chan-
nel, the geometrical dimensions of the transistor
and the electrical parameters I
d
, V
d
, V
g
, i.e. the
drain current, drain voltage and gate voltage, re-
spectively, at the operation point[2,19,22].
Since S
Not
/ (f) is given by the physical model, we
start by dening the relationship between the oxide
traps and the inversion charge. We then directly
relate the inversion charge to the gate voltage and
in this manner obtain S
Vg
(f). The transformation to
S
I
d
(f) and S
V
d
(f) readily follows.
The inversion charge density and the oxide trap
charge density are expressed by
Q
inv

Cb
cm
2
!
=
qN
inv
ZL
and
Q
ot

Cb
cm
2
!
=
qN
ot
/
ZL
,
where N
inv
is the total number of carriers in the
channel and N
ot
' is the total number of occupied
traps.
According to MOS theory (see Appendix A)
dQ
inv
=

C
inv
C
ox
C
d
C
inv
!
dQ
ot
, (4)
where C
d
is the depletion capacitance, C
ox
is the
oxide capacitance, and C
inv
is the inversion capaci-
tance; all expressed per unit area. Hence, for small
signal analysis (corresponding to small uctuations)
S
Q
inv
( f) =

C
inv
C
ox
C
d
C
inv
!
2
S
Qot
( f)X (5)
Since S
Qot
(f) = (q/ZL)
2
S
Not
/ (f) and S
Not
/ (f) is given
by Equation (3), then
S
Qinv
( f) =

C
inv
C
ox
C
d
C
inv
!
2
q
2
N
ot
ZL
1
f
(6)
Under strong inversion, C
inv
bbC
ox
+C
d
and
Equation (6) is simplied to
S
Q
inv
( f) =
q
2
N
ot
ZL
1
f
X (7)
The relation between S
Q
inv
(f) and S
Vg
(f) is derived
for each operation region in Section 4.
4. MODELING OF NOISE
The subsequent modeling relates to large area,
``long channel'' transistors operating from subthres-
hold to saturation but in a limited range of gate
and drain bias voltages where the channel mobility
is practically constant. The bias region correspond-
ing to this assumption is indicated experimentally
from the dependence of the measured transconduc-
tance upon bias voltages (see Fig. 3).
4.1. At strong inversion in the linear region
According to MOS theory, for strong inversion,
in the linear region at low drain voltages (V
d
40)
Q
inv
( y) = C
ox
(V
g
V
t
)X (8)
Assuming that the uctuations in occupied oxide
traps have a negligible eect on threshold voltage,
i.e. dQ
ot
``Q
f
where Q
f
is the xed surface state
charge density,
S
Q
inv
( f ) = C
2
ox
S
Vg
( f)X (9)
Thus, combining Equations (7) and (9), an ex-
pression for S
Vg
(f) is readily obtained
S
Vg
( f) =
q
2
C
2
ox
N
ot
ZL
1
f
X (10)
Equation (10) is determined only by N
ot
and the
geometrical parameters C
ox
, Z and L and is inde-
pendent of carrier mobility and biasing condition
(V
g
, V
d
) provided N
ot
is independent of gate vol-
tage. Once S
Vg
(f) is determined, S
I
d
(f) and S
V
d
(f)
can be readily obtained.
In the linear region g
m
=(C
ox
mZ/L)V
d
=[I
d
/
(V
g
V
t
)] and g
m
is constant at a constant V
d
.
Accordingly,
S
I
d
( f) = g
2
m
S
Vg
( f) =
q
2
C
2
ox

I
d
V
g
V
t

2
N
ot
ZL
1
f
X (11)
For V
ds
in the linear region (V
ds
<V
gs
V
r
) a depen-
dence [V
ds
/(V
gs
V
t
)]
1 + d
with 0 < d < 1 has been
observed[23].
4.2. At strong inversion in the saturation region
In saturation, for V
d
bbV
ds,sat
QV
g
V
t
, the channel
is pinched o. The channel is non-uniform and the
1/f noise in CMOS transistors 1809
inversion layer charge is a function of y, the dis-
tance along the channel.
Thus, Equation (8) is replaced by
Q
inv
( y) = C
ox
[V
g
V
t
V( y)[, (12)
where V(y) varies between 0 at y = 0 and
V
ds,sat
QV
g
V
t
at y = L
e
(the point of pinch-o).
The average inversion charge is dened by
Q
inv
=
1
L
eff

L
eff
0
Q
inv
( y) dy
=
C
ox
L
eff

VgVt
0
[V
g
V
t
V( y)]
dV
dVady
X (13)
Multiplying the integrant by Q
inv
and dividing by
Q
inv
and since Q
inv
(dV/dy) = I
d
/Zm and I
d
is con-
stant along the channel and at saturation is given
by I
d
=(C
ox
mZ/2L
e
)(V
g
V
t
)
2
, we thus obtain
Q
inv
=
2
3
C
ox
(V
g
V
t
)X (14)
Accordingly,
S
Qinv
( f) =
4
9
C
2
ox
S
Vg
( f)X (15)
To relate S
Q
inv
(f) to N
ot
, the capacitive ratio in the
square brackets of Equation (6) must also be aver-
aged along the channel. At y = 0, i.e. near the
source, strong inversion prevails, C
inv
is larger than
C
ox
and C
d
and the value is 1. At the pinch-o
point, C
inv
=0 and the value is 0. Hence, S
Q
inv
(f) is
related to N
ot
by an approximate factor of 1/2 (see
Equation (6)), yielding
S
Vg
( f)
q
2
C
2
ox
N
ot
ZL
1
f
X (16)
Thus, the power spectral density of the gate voltage
at saturation practically equals to that in the linear
region and should be independent of gate voltage
provided N
ot
does not increase with V
g
.
At saturation
g
m
=
C
ox
mZ
L
eff
(V
g
V
t
) =

2
C
ox
mZ
L
eff
I
d
r
X (17)
Assuming small signal analysis, S
Id
=g
m
2
S
Vg
, and
S
I
d
( f)
q
2
mN
ot
I
d
C
ox
L
2
eff
1
f
X (18)
Equation (18) predicts that for a given I
d
, the
power spectral density of the drain current of p-mos
is lower than that of an n-mos by the ratio of the
corresponding mN
ot
product, i.e. the eective mobi-
lity and eective density of oxide trap product.
While S
Vg
(f) scales down with C
ox
2
and ZL, S
I
d
(f)
scales down with C
ox
and L
e
2
.
4.3. At subthreshold
At weak inversion below threshold using
Equation (6) and assuming C
inv
``C
ox
, C
d
, then
S
Vg
( f)
1
C
2
ox
S
Q
inv
( f) =
1
C
2
ox

C
inv
C
ox
C
d
!
2
q
2
N
ot
ZL
1
f
X
(19)
In weak inversion and for long channel devices, the
only current that ows is assumed to be diusion
current I
d
=qD
n
A(dn/dy). Current continuity
requires that dn/dy is constant and hence that the
electron density is linear with distance. Therefore,
n(y)In(0)[1 y/L]. The electron densities at the
source and drain are, respectively, n(0) = n
p,0
e
qf
s
akT
and n(L) = n
p,0
e
qf
s
akT
e
qV
d
akT
. Accordingly, the
density of inversion charges is
n
inv

1
L
n(0)

L
0

1
y
L

dy =
1
2
n(0) =
1
2
n
p,0
e
qf
s
akT

1
2
n
p,0
e
qVgankT
(20)
where n
p,0
are the minority carrier concentration on
p-type substrate of the n-mos and n = (C
ox
+C
d
)/
C
ox
is the capacitive ratio between the oxide capaci-
tance and the depletion capacitance. Q
inv
is directly
related to n
inv
.
C
inv
is dened by dQ
inv
/df
s
and at subthreshold
is approximated by Q
inv
/(kT/q). Hence, C
inv
exhibits
an exponential dependence upon gate voltage and
the value of the capacitive ratio in Equation (19) is
exponentially reduced as gate voltage is reduced.
Hence, the model predicts that at subthreshold,
S
Vg
(f) will exhibit an exponential voltage depen-
dence, and will be signicantly reduced as gate vol-
tage is reduced.
At subthreshold, the drain current is related to
gate voltage by I
d
QI
0
e
qVgankT
where n is the capaci-
tive ratio dened above. Hence, g
m
Q(qI
d
/kT)[C
ox
/
(C
ox
+C
d
] and using Equation (19),
S
I
d
( f) =
C
2
inv
(C
ox
C
d
)
4
q
4
(kT )
2
I
2
d
N
ot
ZLf
X (21)
5. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The experimental setup for measuring the low
frequency drain current noise spectrum of the
MOSFET is shown in Fig. 1. The transistor is con-
nected in a common source conguration and is
d.c. coupled to the Stanford Research SR570 Low
Noise Current Amplier. The output of this ampli-
er is connected to an HP3562 Dynamic Signal
Analyzer which samples this signal and calculates
its Fourier transform. This transform provides the
power spectral density of the incoming voltage in
the frequencies of interest.
To verify the expressions of the 1/f noise devel-
oped in the previous sections, it is necessary to
achieve a good precision in the variations of the
d.c. parameters of the transistor. To this end, an ex-
C. Jakobson et al. 1810
perimental setup fully controlled by a PC has been
built, which can work stand alone for hours as
required for these measurements. The adjustable
d.c. parameters are: the gate voltage, determined by
a 12 bit D/A converter, and the drain voltage,
determined by the bias voltage input of the current
amplier. The desired drain current is adjusted by
introducing an oset current to the current ampli-
er and adjusting to zero its output. In this way,
the measurement can be performed at xed current
steps, instead of voltage steps. To execute the zero
adjust, an A/D is added to the setup, and connected
to the output of the current amplier. The sensi-
tivity of the amplier is also controlled by the PC,
and xed for each drain-voltage condition by an in-
ternal algorithm. The measurement results are also
acquired by the PC from the Dynamic Signal
Analyzer. R
G
and C
G
are added to lter input noise
from the D/A converter.
The noise contribution of the dierent elements
in the setup is calculated using the small signal cir-
cuit shown in Fig. 2. The main noise sources are:
the current noise of the current amplier, and the
drain current noise of the MOSFET, which is the
noise source we want to measure. The additional
contributions from the D/A converter and the bias
voltage are adequately ltered, and hence elimi-
nated from the measurement.
The power spectral density of the output voltage
measured by the DSA is given by
S
Vout
=
S
ID
S
2

S
Ia
4kTS
4kT
R
off

1
S
2
S
Va

1
r
ds
R
off
r
ds
R
off
S

2
X (22)
Where S
ID
is the drain current noise of the
MOSFET, r
ds
is the drain source resistance of the
MOSFET, S is the sensitivity of the low noise cur-
rent amplier, R
o
is the resistor, connected to a
variable voltage, used internally by the low noise
current amplier to generate the oset current, S
Ia
and S
Va
are the input current and input voltage
noise, respectively, of the operational amplier
AD743.
The desired noise spectrum is the rst term in
Equation (22). To make the other terms negligible
the following conditions are immediately derived
S
Ia
_S
ID
,
1
S
4kTS
ID
,
S
Va
_S
ID

1
S
r
ds
R
off

2
X (23)
The noise sources of the resistors are directly calcu-
lated, while the noise sources from the AD743 oper-
ational amplier are taken from its data sheet. At
1 kHz the input noise current is and the input vol-
tage noise is 7fA/

Hz
_
. The input capacitance C
inp
of the operational amplier is 20 pF.
Fig. 1. Schematics of the low frequency noise measurement set-up.
1/f noise in CMOS transistors 1811
With this set-up, the gate and drain voltages can
be independently controlled and varied. The d.c.
characteristics of the MOSFETs studied are separ-
ately measured using a Semiconductor Parameter
Analyzer (HP). The gate transconductance is found
by deriving numerically these characteristics. The
input referred noise is obtained by dividing S
ID
by
the square of the measured gate transconductance
evaluated at each data point. The fact that the gate
transconductance is measured rather than calculated
is crucial to minimize errors in noise data.
6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The small-signal transconductance is measured
for each bias point. Figure 3 shows a family of gate
transconductance characteristics plotted as a func-
tion of the gate-source voltage with the drain-source
voltage as a parameter, for the relatively large area
n-mos and p-mos under study. The measured trans-
conductance is an important parameter in measur-
ing the low frequency noise of the MOS transistors.
Furthermore, the measured transconductance also
exhibits the range of drain and gate bias voltages
corresponding to a practically constant channel
mobility. From Fig. 3(a), for the n-mos, V
t
=0.79 V
and the observed value of the eective channel
mobility is m
n
=543 cm
2
V
1
s
1
and it is practically
constant for V
gs
<2.5 V. Similarly, from Fig. 3(b),
for the p-mos, V
t
=0.91 V and the observed value
of the eective channel mobility is
m
p
=207 cm
2
V
1
s
1
and it is practically constant
for V
gs
<1.6 V. Moreover, when the transconduc-
tance at saturation becomes lower because of
reduced mobility, it indicates that there is a large
electric eld[22,24]. At high electrical elds, there is
an additional oxide charging, as indicated by
increased gate current leakage[25]. Accordingly,
there is a signicant increase in the eective oxide
trap density N
ot
and a corresponding increase of
the drain current and gate voltage noise power
spectral density. Thus, in analog application, it is
very important to limit in saturation the applied
gate and drain voltages to values where the decrease
in channel mobility is very small, as proposed in
this study.
Figure 4 exhibits the dependence of the measured
power spectral density of the drain current upon
mean drain current. S
ID
increases with increasing
drain current. The general behavior corresponds to
the predictions of the modeling of Section 3
(Equation (11) for the linear region, Equation (18)
at saturation, Equation (21) at subthreshold). The
n-mos and p-mos exhibit similar behavior but the
power spectral density of the drain current of the p-
mos transistor is lower by approximately one and a
half orders of magnitude compared to that of the n-
mos. This result corresponds to the predictions of
the modeling and corresponds to the lower mobility
(approximately by a factor of H2.5 as derived from
Fig. 3) and a lower eective N
ot
(by a factor of 15,
see below).
Figure 5 shows the power spectral density of the
gate voltage S
Vg
(input-referred noise). Above V
t
,
S
Vg
is practically constant with V
g
for n-mos and
slightly increases with gate voltage in p-mos transis-
tors, provided V
g
does not exceed the value that
corresponds to a practically constant mobility
(obtained from the dependence of the gate trans-
conductance upon gate voltage). When a larger gate
voltage is applied, both n-mos and p-mos transistors
exhibit an increase in S
Vg
. The value of S
Vg
is lower
by over an order of magnitude for the p-mos tran-
sistor, indicating a lower density of eective oxide
traps for the p-mos transistor. For the transistors of
Fig. 5, a reduction by a factor of H15 is observed.
Below threshold voltage, the measured noise
behavior in subthreshold corresponds to the predic-
tions of the modeling (Section 4.3). A signicant re-
duction at subthreshold is observed due to the
exponential reduction of C
inv
with gate voltage.
This behavior is observed for both n-mos and p-
mos transistors.
The eective density of oxide traps is obtained
from Fig. 6. Figure 6 shows the measured M of the
empirical expression of Equation (2) which is
obtained by normalizing the measurements of the
input-referred noise at f = 1 Hz with geometrical
dimensions and C
ox
(i.e. according to Equation (2)).
Fig. 2. Small-signal model of the noise sources in the measurement set-up.
C. Jakobson et al. 1812
The measured values of M for several n-mos and p-
mos transistors with dierent areas and process
runs (but exposed to the same ``low noise pro-
cess''[21]) vary, respectively, between M = (42
2)10
30
Cb cm
2
and M = (221)10
32
Cb cm
2
.*
Above threshold voltage, by comparing Equation (2)
and Equations (10) and (16), it is seen that
M = q
2
N
ot
. Thus, the eective density of oxide
traps for n-mos and p-mos, denoted, respectively,
by N
ot,n
and N
ot,p
, are derived. The measured values
obtained from Fig. 6 are N
ot,n
=1.2 10
7
cm
2
and
N
ot,p
=0.810
6
cm
2
. To relate N
ot
to the CMOS
Fig. 3. The measured gate transconductance g
m
as a function of gate voltage V
GS
with drain voltage
V
DS
as a parameter (a) n-channel 110 mm/10 mm, (b) p-channel 100 mm/10 mm. Both transistors have
been fabricated by a ``low noise'' process[21]. The dashed line is the transconductance at saturation
g
m,sat
.
*For clarity, we have indicated in Fig. 6 these average M
values which are assumed to be independent of the
gate voltage in the range marked in the gure.
1/f noise in CMOS transistors 1813
process technology and the type of the transistor
(n-mos, p-mos), it is useful to dene the eective
density of oxide traps by N
ot
[cm
2
] = kTN
t
(E)/g, in
which N
t
(E) [cm
3
eV
1
] is the density of oxide
traps per unit volume and unit energy (and is deter-
mined by the technology), g is the McWhorter tun-
neling parameter which depends on the eective
mass of the tunneling carrier as well as on the bar-
rier height (and hence on the transistor type). For
N
t
(E) = 4 10
16
cm
3
eV
1
, kT = 0.026 eV at
300 K, 1/g of the order of 1 A, N
ot
is of the order
of 10
7
cm
2
.
Fig. 4. Measured drain current noise power spectral density S
ID
as a function of the mean drain current
from subthreshold to saturation (a) for the n-channel mos transistor of Fig. 3(b) for the p-channel mos
transistor of Fig. 3. The dashed line indicates the behavior predicted by the noise models of Section 3.
Fig. 5. Input-referred noise spectra (gate voltage power spectral density) as a function of gate voltage
from subthreshold to saturation (a) for the n-channel mos transistor of Fig. 3(b) for the p-channel mos
transistor of Fig. 3.
C. Jakobson et al. 1814
In general, p-mos transistors have noise levels
one to two orders of magnitude lower than those of
n-channel devices with similar gate geometry and
fabricated by the same technology at the same pro-
cess run. This can be attributed to the larger tunnel-
ing barrier (4.8 eV) for holes relative to that of
electrons (3.1 eV) and the dierent electron and
hole eective mass, resulting in dierent typical tun-
neling parameters g as well as to possibly dierent
oxide trap densities N
t
(E) near the valence and con-
duction band edges[5].
The gate area dependence of the input-referred
noise power of both n-mos and p-mos transistors is
shown in Fig. 7. The noise power varies as the
Fig. 6. Empirical noise constant M for various n-channel and p-channel mos transistors. The marked
lines indicate the range of M-values independent of gate voltage.
Fig. 7. The normalized input-referred noise power of MOS transistors operating in saturation, plotted
vs channel area. Solid dots: n-mos, Open circles: p-mos. The dashed lines show the 1/area dependence.
1/f noise in CMOS transistors 1815
inverse of the channel area, as predicted by the
modeling, down to small-scale transistors with gate
area of the order of 3 mm
2
. Using the measured
values of N
ot
, the volume density of oxide traps in
the ``low noise analog process''[21] under study is
estimated to be N
t
(E)kTQ10
15
cm
3
. The total
number of oxide traps within an oxide thickness of
100 A and a gate area of 100 10 mm
2
yields a total
number of the order of 10
4
traps. For the technol-
ogy reported here, the random telegraph signal[11
16] is observed only in sub-micron transistors.
7. SUMMARY
Noise is a signicant factor in designing analog
circuits. Although circuit techniques have been
developed to reduce the eects of 1/f noise[26], it is
clear that the ultimate low noise performance will
be limited by the noise factor M of the devices in
the circuit. In particular, the input transistor of the
rst stage plays a critical role in the overall circuit
noise (since the noise contribution of the following
transistors is reduced by the gain of the rst stage).
Since low frequency noise cannot be avoided while
using CMOS technology, taking advantage of avail-
able design parameters and the understanding of
the physical origin of the noise to reduce noise, is
highly desirable.
The present study focuses on large area, long-
channel transistors, operating between subthreshold
and saturation but in a limited range of gate and
bias voltages where channel mobility is practically
constant. A clear methodology and simple models,
based on well dened assumptions and approxi-
mations, have been derived for the power spectral
densities of the gate voltage and drain current. The
general behavior of the measurements corresponds
to the predictions of the modeling. The modeling
presented here relates M to the eective density of
oxide traps N
ot
and to the operation point. At sat-
uration, for gate and drain voltage region exhibiting
a nearly constant channel mobility, M = q
2
N
ot
, and
is nearly independent of gate voltage.
A key parameter which is usually determined by
available chip area is the channel area. Maximizing
the channel area will yield the minimum noise since
the noise is inversely proportional to gate area in
all regions of operation. It should be noted though
that this increases the input capacitance and for
example in capacitive readout often violates capaci-
tance matching[20].
Another key issue is the type (p-channel vs n-
channel) and the operation point of the transistor,
which for a given process determine the value of
the noise factor M. M is a process dependent
empirical constant, which in strong inversion and
suciently low gate voltage (corresponding to a
practically constant channel mobility) is nearly
independent of bias voltages. The measured values
of M for n-mos and p-mos transistors, fabricated in
a ``low noise analog process''[21] vary, respectively,
between
M=(422)10
30
Cb
2
acm
2
and
M=(221)10
32
Cb
2
acm
2
X
Below threshold voltage, a signicant reduction is
observed in the input-referred noise as gate voltage
is decreased, corresponding to the prediction of the
model and due to the exponential reduction of the
inversion capacitance with gate voltage. This beha-
vior is observed for both n-mos and p-mos transis-
tors. Hence, lowering the operation gate voltage is
an additional viable method for 1/f noise reduction.
For the best 1/f noise performance, a low value of
gate bias corresponding to subthreshold is war-
ranted. The usefulness of this reduction is deter-
mined by the frequency range of operation of the
circuit since in subthreshold the thermal noise is
increased. Bias in subthreshold is also known for
providing the largest ratio of gate transconductance
to drain current (this ratio determines the gain of
the stage).
If system constraints are required to operate the
mos transistor in saturation, it is again advisable to
apply a lower gate voltage where the transistor
exhibits a nearly constant channel mobility and cor-
respondingly, a nearly constant input-referred noise.
It is shown here that the useful bias voltages can be
experimentally determined from the measured
characteristics of the transconductance. At higher
gate voltages where the channel mobility starts to
decrease, the power spectral density increases and
this is attributed to additional oxide charging and
hence to an eective increase in N
ot
. This eect is
even more pronounced in p-mos transistors where
the reduction in channel mobility and the increase
of the noise-referred-to-input are observed in lower
gate voltages (compared to n-mos).
AcknowledgementsThis research was supported by the
Kidron Foundation and was performed in the laboratories
donated by Etia and Miguel Meilichson. The research was
also supported by Technion V. P. R. Fund-Promotion of
Sponsored Research. We gratefully thank Mrs. Gitta
Abraham for typing the manuscript.
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APPENDIX A
The equation that governs the performance of the MOS
structure is
V
G
F
MS

Q
ot
C
ox
=
Q
D
C
ox

Q
inv
C
ox
f
s
(AX1)
The inversion and depletion capacitances are dened, re-
spectively, by
C
inv
=
dQ
inv
df
s
, C
D
=
dQ
D
df
s
X (AX2)
For a xed voltage V,
dQ
ot
C
ox
=
dQ
D
C
ox

dQ
inv
C
ox
df
s
X (AX3)
Accordingly,
dQ
ot
df
s
= C
D
C
inv
C
ox
and
dQ
inv
dQ
ot
=
C
inv
C
ox
C
D
C
inv
X (AX4)
Note: The interface traps capacitance, C
it
, is neglected
here, since C
it
``C
ox
in the transistors under study.
1/f noise in CMOS transistors 1817