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99-404: The main advantage of a MOSFET is that it requires almost no input current to control the load current, when compared to bipolar junction transistors (BJTs). In an enhancement mode MOSFET, voltage applied to the gate terminal increases the conductivity of the device. In depletion mode transistors, voltage applied at the gate reduces the conductivity. The "metal" in the name MOSFET is sometimes

198-429: A depletion layer by forcing the positively charged holes away from the gate-insulator/semiconductor interface, leaving exposed a carrier-free region of immobile, negatively charged acceptor ions (see doping ). If V G is high enough, a high concentration of negative charge carriers forms in an inversion layer located in a thin layer next to the interface between the semiconductor and the insulator. Conventionally,

297-591: A misnomer , because the gate material can be a layer of polysilicon (polycrystalline silicon). Similarly, "oxide" in the name can also be a misnomer, as different dielectric materials are used with the aim of obtaining strong channels with smaller applied voltages. The MOSFET is by far the most common transistor in digital circuits, as billions may be included in a memory chip or microprocessor. Since MOSFETs can be made with either p-type or n-type semiconductors, complementary pairs of MOS transistors can be used to make switching circuits with very low power consumption, in

396-564: A MOSFET. In the case of a p-type MOSFET, bulk inversion happens when the intrinsic energy level at the surface becomes smaller than the Fermi level at the surface. This can be seen on a band diagram. The Fermi level defines the type of semiconductor in discussion. If the Fermi level is equal to the Intrinsic level, the semiconductor is of intrinsic, or pure type. If the Fermi level lies closer to

495-532: A bipolar transistor. The subthreshold I–V curve depends exponentially upon threshold voltage, introducing a strong dependence on any manufacturing variation that affects threshold voltage; for example: variations in oxide thickness, junction depth, or body doping that change the degree of drain-induced barrier lowering. The resulting sensitivity to fabricational variations complicates optimization for leakage and performance. When V GS > V th and V DS < V GS  − V th : The transistor

594-404: A buried oxide is formed below a thin semiconductor layer. If the channel region between the gate dielectric and the buried oxide region is very thin, the channel is referred to as an ultrathin channel region with the source and drain regions formed on either side in or above the thin semiconductor layer. Other semiconductor materials may be employed. When the source and drain regions are formed above

693-462: A common region that minority carriers can move through. A PNP BJT will function like two diodes that share an N-type cathode region, and the NPN like two diodes sharing a P-type anode region. Connecting two diodes with wires will not make a BJT, since minority carriers will not be able to get from one p–n junction to the other through the wire. Both types of BJT function by letting a small current input to

792-406: A few hundred millivolts) biases. For example, in the typical grounded-emitter configuration of an NPN BJT used as a pulldown switch in digital logic, the "off" state never involves a reverse-biased junction because the base voltage never goes below ground; nevertheless the forward bias is close enough to zero that essentially no current flows, so this end of the forward active region can be regarded as

891-462: A heterojunction technology with an adjustable band gap , the SiGe offers the opportunity for more flexible bandgap tuning than silicon-only technology. Silicon–germanium on insulator (SGOI) is a technology analogous to the silicon on insulator (SOI) technology currently employed in computer chips. SGOI increases the speed of the transistors inside microchips by straining the crystal lattice under

990-730: A joint development with IBM for a SiGe stressed-silicon technology, targeting the 65 nm process. TSMC also sells SiGe manufacturing capacity. In July 2015, IBM announced that it had created working samples of transistors using a 7 nm silicon–germanium process, promising a quadrupling in the amount of transistors compared to a contemporary process. SiGe allows CMOS logic to be integrated with heterojunction bipolar transistors , making it suitable for mixed-signal integrated circuits . Heterojunction bipolar transistors have higher forward gain and lower reverse gain than traditional homojunction bipolar transistors . This translates into better low-current and high-frequency performance. Being

1089-401: A junction between two regions of different charge carrier concentration. The regions of a BJT are called emitter , base , and collector . A discrete transistor has three leads for connection to these regions. Typically, the emitter region is heavily doped compared to the other two layers, and the collector is doped more lightly (typically ten times lighter ) than the base. By design, most of

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1188-596: A laser integrated into a single chip to enable data transfer using light instead of electric current, speeding up data transfer while reducing energy consumption and need for cooling systems. The international team, with lead authors Elham Fadaly, Alain Dijkstra and Erik Bakkers at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands and Jens Renè Suckert at Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena in Germany, were awarded

1287-476: A long-channel device, there is no drain voltage dependence of the current once V DS ≫ V T {\displaystyle V_{\text{DS}}\gg V_{\text{T}}} , but as channel length is reduced drain-induced barrier lowering introduces drain voltage dependence that depends in a complex way upon the device geometry (for example, the channel doping, the junction doping and so on). Frequently, threshold voltage V th for this mode

1386-506: A more positive potential than the n-doped side, and the base–collector junction is reverse biased . When forward bias is applied to the base–emitter junction, the equilibrium between the thermally generated carriers and the repelling electric field of the emitter depletion region is disturbed. This allows thermally excited carriers (electrons in NPNs, holes in PNPs) to inject from the emitter into

1485-475: A silicon MOS transistor in 1959 and successfully demonstrated a working MOS device with their Bell Labs team in 1960. Their team included E. E. LaBate and E. I. Povilonis who fabricated the device; M. O. Thurston, L. A. D’Asaro, and J. R. Ligenza who developed the diffusion processes, and H. K. Gummel and R. Lindner who characterized the device. This was a culmination of decades of field-effect research that began with Lilienfeld. The first MOS transistor at Bell Labs

1584-624: A single crystal of material. The junctions can be made in several different ways, such as changing the doping of the semiconductor material as it is grown, by depositing metal pellets to form alloy junctions, or by such methods as diffusion of n-type and p-type doping substances into the crystal. The superior predictability and performance of junction transistors quickly displaced the original point-contact transistor . Diffused transistors, along with other components, are elements of integrated circuits for analog and digital functions. Hundreds of bipolar junction transistors can be made in one circuit at

1683-423: A thin p-doped region, and a PNP transistor comprises two semiconductor junctions that share a thin n-doped region. N-type means doped with impurities (such as phosphorus or arsenic ) that provide mobile electrons, while p-type means doped with impurities (such as boron ) that provide holes that readily accept electrons. Charge flow in a BJT is due to diffusion of charge carriers (electrons and holes) across

1782-421: A unipolar transistor, such as a field-effect transistor (FET), uses only one kind of charge carrier. A bipolar transistor allows a small current injected at one of its terminals to control a much larger current between the remaining two terminals, making the device capable of amplification or switching . BJTs use two p–n junctions between two semiconductor types, n-type and p-type, which are regions in

1881-563: A very low cost. Bipolar transistor integrated circuits were the main active devices of a generation of mainframe and minicomputers , but most computer systems now use Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor ( CMOS ) integrated circuits relying on the field-effect transistor (FET). Bipolar transistors are still used for amplification of signals, switching, and in mixed-signal integrated circuits using BiCMOS . Specialized types are used for high voltage switches, for radio-frequency (RF) amplifiers, or for switching high currents. By convention,

1980-746: Is a weak-inversion current, sometimes called subthreshold leakage. In weak inversion where the source is tied to bulk, the current varies exponentially with V GS {\displaystyle V_{\text{GS}}} as given approximately by: I D ≈ I D0 e V GS − V th n V T , {\displaystyle I_{\text{D}}\approx I_{\text{D0}}e^{\frac {V_{\text{GS}}-V_{\text{th}}}{nV_{\text{T}}}},} where I D0 {\displaystyle I_{\text{D0}}} = current at V GS = V th {\displaystyle V_{\text{GS}}=V_{\text{th}}} ,

2079-505: Is also used as a thermoelectric material for high-temperature applications (>700 K). The use of silicon–germanium as a semiconductor was championed by Bernie Meyerson . The challenge that had delayed its realization for decades was that germanium atoms are roughly 4% larger than silicon atoms. At the usual high temperatures at which silicon transistors were fabricated, the strain induced by adding these larger atoms into crystalline silicon produced vast numbers of defects, precluding

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2178-514: Is an alloy with any molar ratio of silicon and germanium , i.e. with a molecular formula of the form Si 1− x Ge x . It is commonly used as a semiconductor material in integrated circuits (ICs) for heterojunction bipolar transistors or as a strain -inducing layer for CMOS transistors. IBM introduced the technology into mainstream manufacturing in 1989. This relatively new technology offers opportunities in mixed-signal circuit and analog circuit IC design and manufacture. SiGe

2277-724: Is an improvement of the BJT that can handle signals of very high frequencies up to several hundred GHz . It is common in modern ultrafast circuits, mostly RF systems. Two commonly used HBTs are silicon–germanium and aluminum gallium arsenide, though a wide variety of semiconductors may be used for the HBT structure. HBT structures are usually grown by epitaxy techniques like MOCVD and MBE . Bipolar transistors have four distinct regions of operation, defined by BJT junction biases: Although these regions are well defined for sufficiently large applied voltage, they overlap somewhat for small (less than

2376-411: Is called active mode, the base–emitter voltage V BE {\displaystyle V_{\text{BE}}} and collector–base voltage V CB {\displaystyle V_{\text{CB}}} are positive, forward biasing the emitter–base junction and reverse-biasing the collector–base junction. In this mode, electrons are injected from the forward biased n-type emitter region into

2475-711: Is defined as the gate voltage at which a selected value of current I D0 occurs, for example, I D0 = 1   μA, which may not be the same V th -value used in the equations for the following modes. Some micropower analog circuits are designed to take advantage of subthreshold conduction. By working in the weak-inversion region, the MOSFETs in these circuits deliver the highest possible transconductance-to-current ratio, namely: g m / I D = 1 / ( n V T ) {\displaystyle g_{m}/I_{\text{D}}=1/\left(nV_{\text{T}}\right)} , almost that of

2574-415: Is equivalent to a planar capacitor , with one of the electrodes replaced by a semiconductor. When a voltage is applied across a MOS structure, it modifies the distribution of charges in the semiconductor. If we consider a p-type semiconductor (with N A the density of acceptors , p the density of holes; p = N A in neutral bulk), a positive voltage, V G , from gate to body (see figure) creates

2673-409: Is made from lightly doped, high-resistivity material. The collector surrounds the emitter region, making it almost impossible for the electrons injected into the base region to escape without being collected, thus making the resulting value of α very close to unity, and so, giving the transistor a large β. A cross-section view of a BJT indicates that the collector–base junction has a much larger area than

2772-447: Is related to V BE {\displaystyle V_{\text{BE}}} exponentially. At room temperature , an increase in V BE {\displaystyle V_{\text{BE}}} by approximately 60 mV increases the emitter current by a factor of 10. Because the base current is approximately proportional to the collector and emitter currents, they vary in the same way. The bipolar point-contact transistor

2871-577: Is reverse biased in normal operation. The reason the emitter is heavily doped is to increase the emitter injection efficiency: the ratio of carriers injected by the emitter to those injected by the base. For high current gain, most of the carriers injected into the emitter–base junction must come from the emitter. The low-performance "lateral" bipolar transistors sometimes used in CMOS processes are sometimes designed symmetrically, that is, with no difference between forward and backward operation. Small changes in

2970-498: Is the charge-carrier effective mobility, W {\displaystyle W} is the gate width, L {\displaystyle L} is the gate length and C ox {\displaystyle C_{\text{ox}}} is the gate oxide capacitance per unit area. The transition from the exponential subthreshold region to the triode region is not as sharp as the equations suggest. When V GS > V th and V DS ≥ (V GS  – V th ): The switch

3069-787: Is turned on, and a channel has been created which allows current between the drain and the source. The MOSFET operates like a resistor, controlled by the gate voltage relative to both the source and drain voltages. The current from drain to source is modeled as: I D = μ n C ox W L ( ( V GS − V t h ) V DS − V DS 2 2 ) {\displaystyle I_{\text{D}}=\mu _{n}C_{\text{ox}}{\frac {W}{L}}\left(\left(V_{\text{GS}}-V_{\rm {th}}\right)V_{\text{DS}}-{\frac {{V_{\text{DS}}}^{2}}{2}}\right)} where μ n {\displaystyle \mu _{n}}

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3168-427: Is turned on, and a channel has been created, which allows current between the drain and source. Since the drain voltage is higher than the source voltage, the electrons spread out, and conduction is not through a narrow channel but through a broader, two- or three-dimensional current distribution extending away from the interface and deeper in the substrate. The onset of this region is also known as pinch-off to indicate

3267-408: Is usually 100 or more, but robust circuit designs do not depend on the exact value (for example see op-amp ). The value of this gain for DC signals is referred to as h FE {\displaystyle h_{\text{FE}}} , and the value of this gain for small signals is referred to as h fe {\displaystyle h_{\text{fe}}} . That is, when a small change in

3366-447: The 45 nanometer node. When a voltage is applied between the gate and the source, the electric field generated penetrates through the oxide and creates an inversion layer or channel at the semiconductor-insulator interface. The inversion layer provides a channel through which current can pass between source and drain terminals. Varying the voltage between the gate and body modulates the conductivity of this layer and thereby controls

3465-520: The Ebers–Moll model ) is required. The voltage-control model requires an exponential function to be taken into account, but when it is linearized such that the transistor can be modeled as a transconductance, as in the Ebers–Moll model, design for circuits such as differential amplifiers again becomes a mostly linear problem, so the voltage-control view is often preferred. For translinear circuits , in which

3564-452: The MOS transistor gate, resulting in improved electron mobility and higher drive currents. SiGe MOSFETs can also provide lower junction leakage due to the lower bandgap value of SiGe. However, a major issue with SGOI MOSFETs is the inability to form stable oxides with silicon–germanium using standard silicon oxidation processing. A silicon–germanium thermoelectric device MHW-RTG3 was used in

3663-475: The Voyager ;1 and 2 spacecraft. Silicon–germanium thermoelectric devices were also used in other MHW-RTGs and GPHS-RTGs aboard Cassini , Galileo , Ulysses . By controlling the composition of a hexagonal SiGe alloy, researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology developed a material that can emit light. In combination with its electronic properties, this opens up the possibility of producing

3762-416: The emitter region, the base region and the collector region. These regions are, respectively, p type, n type and p type in a PNP transistor, and n type, p type and n type in an NPN transistor. Each semiconductor region is connected to a terminal, appropriately labeled: emitter (E), base (B) and collector (C). The base is physically located between the emitter and the collector and

3861-401: The BJT collector current is due to the flow of charge carriers injected from a heavily doped emitter into the base where they are minority carriers (electrons in NPNs, holes in PNPs) that diffuse toward the collector, so BJTs are classified as minority-carrier devices . In typical operation, the base–emitter junction is forward biased , which means that the p-doped side of the junction is at

3960-450: The Ebers–Moll model: The base internal current is mainly by diffusion (see Fick's law ) and where The α {\displaystyle \alpha } and forward β {\displaystyle \beta } parameters are as described previously. A reverse β {\displaystyle \beta } is sometimes included in the model. The unapproximated Ebers–Moll equations used to describe

4059-432: The Fermi level and when the voltage reaches the threshold voltage, the intrinsic level does cross the Fermi level, and that is what is known as inversion. At that point, the surface of the semiconductor is inverted from p-type into n-type. If the Fermi level lies above the intrinsic level, the semiconductor is of n-type, therefore at inversion, when the intrinsic level reaches and crosses the Fermi level (which lies closer to

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4158-427: The absorption of photons , and handles the dynamics of turn-off, or recovery time, which depends on charge in the base region recombining. However, because base charge is not a signal that is visible at the terminals, the current- and voltage-control views are generally used in circuit design and analysis. In analog circuit design, the current-control view is sometimes used because it is approximately linear. That is,

4257-463: The addition of n-type source and drain regions. The MOS capacitor structure is the heart of the MOSFET. Consider a MOS capacitor where the silicon base is of p-type. If a positive voltage is applied at the gate, holes which are at the surface of the p-type substrate will be repelled by the electric field generated by the voltage applied. At first, the holes will simply be repelled and what will remain on

4356-400: The base and reach the collector is a measure of the BJT efficiency. The heavy doping of the emitter region and light doping of the base region causes many more electrons to be injected from the emitter into the base than holes to be injected from the base into the emitter. A thin and lightly doped base region means that most of the minority carriers that are injected into the base will diffuse to

4455-465: The base control an amplified output from the collector. The result is that the BJT makes a good switch that is controlled by its base input. The BJT also makes a good amplifier, since it can multiply a weak input signal to about 100 times its original strength. Networks of BJTs are used to make powerful amplifiers with many different applications. In the discussion below, focus is on the NPN BJT. In what

4554-427: The base reduce the BJT gain. Another useful characteristic is the common-base current gain , α F . The common-base current gain is approximately the gain of current from emitter to collector in the forward-active region. This ratio usually has a value close to unity; between 0.980 and 0.998. It is less than unity due to recombination of charge carriers as they cross the base region. Alpha and beta are related by

4653-400: The base region. These carriers create a diffusion current through the base from the region of high concentration near the emitter toward the region of low concentration near the collector. To minimize the fraction of carriers that recombine before reaching the collector–base junction, the transistor's base region must be thin enough that carriers can diffuse across it in much less time than

4752-434: The base–emitter junction and recombination in the base). In many designs beta is assumed high enough so that base current has a negligible effect on the circuit. In some circuits (generally switching circuits), sufficient base current is supplied so that even the lowest beta value a particular device may have will still allow the required collector current to flow. BJTs consists of three differently doped semiconductor regions:

4851-448: The body) are highly doped as signified by a "+" sign after the type of doping. If the MOSFET is an n-channel or nMOS FET, then the source and drain are n+ regions and the body is a p region. If the MOSFET is a p-channel or pMOS FET, then the source and drain are p+ regions and the body is a n region. The source is so named because it is the source of the charge carriers (electrons for n-channel, holes for p-channel) that flow through

4950-404: The channel in whole or in part, they are referred to as raised source/drain regions. The operation of a MOSFET can be separated into three different modes, depending on the voltages at the terminals. In the following discussion, a simplified algebraic model is used. Modern MOSFET characteristics are more complex than the algebraic model presented here. For an enhancement-mode, n-channel MOSFET ,

5049-467: The channel-length modulation parameter, models current dependence on drain voltage due to the Early effect , or channel length modulation . According to this equation, a key design parameter, the MOSFET transconductance is: Bipolar junction transistors A bipolar junction transistor ( BJT ) is a type of transistor that uses both electrons and electron holes as charge carriers . In contrast,

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5148-408: The channel; similarly, the drain is where the charge carriers leave the channel. The occupancy of the energy bands in a semiconductor is set by the position of the Fermi level relative to the semiconductor energy-band edges. With sufficient gate voltage, the valence band edge is driven far from the Fermi level, and holes from the body are driven away from the gate. At larger gate bias still, near

5247-467: The characteristics allows designs to be created following a logical process. Bipolar transistors, and particularly power transistors, have long base-storage times when they are driven into saturation; the base storage limits turn-off time in switching applications. A Baker clamp can prevent the transistor from heavily saturating, which reduces the amount of charge stored in the base and thus improves switching time. The proportion of carriers able to cross

5346-507: The collector and not recombine. The common-emitter current gain is represented by β F or the h -parameter h FE ; it is approximately the ratio of the collector's direct current to the base's direct current in forward-active region. (The F subscript is used to indicate the forward-active mode of operation.) It is typically greater than 50 for small-signal transistors, but can be smaller in transistors designed for high-power applications. Both injection efficiency and recombination in

5445-405: The collector current is approximately β F {\displaystyle \beta _{\text{F}}} times the base current. Some basic circuits can be designed by assuming that the base–emitter voltage is approximately constant and that collector current is β times the base current. However, to accurately and reliably design production BJT circuits, the voltage-control model (e.g.

5544-458: The collector–base depletion region, are swept into the collector by the electric field in the depletion region. The thin shared base and asymmetric collector–emitter doping are what differentiates a bipolar transistor from two separate diodes connected in series. The collector–emitter current can be viewed as being controlled by the base–emitter current (current control), or by the base–emitter voltage (voltage control). These views are related by

5643-466: The collector–base voltage, for example, causes a greater reverse bias across the collector–base junction, increasing the collector–base depletion region width, and decreasing the width of the base. This variation in base width often is called the Early effect after its discoverer James M. Early . Narrowing of the base width has two consequences: Both factors increase the collector or "output" current of

5742-413: The conduction band (valence band) then the semiconductor type will be of n-type (p-type). When the gate voltage is increased in a positive sense (for the given example), this will shift the intrinsic energy level band so that it will curve downwards towards the valence band. If the Fermi level lies closer to the valence band (for p-type), there will be a point when the Intrinsic level will start to cross

5841-465: The conventional direction, but labels for the movement of holes and electrons show their actual direction inside the transistor. The arrow on the symbol for bipolar transistors indicates the p–n junction between base and emitter and points in the direction in which conventional current travels. BJTs exist as PNP and NPN types, based on the doping types of the three main terminal regions. An NPN transistor comprises two semiconductor junctions that share

5940-422: The current flow between drain and source. This is known as enhancement mode. The traditional metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) structure is obtained by growing a layer of silicon dioxide ( SiO 2 ) on top of a silicon substrate, commonly by thermal oxidation and depositing a layer of metal or polycrystalline silicon (the latter is commonly used). As silicon dioxide is a dielectric material, its structure

6039-508: The currents occurs, and sufficient time has passed for the new condition to reach a steady state h fe {\displaystyle h_{\text{fe}}} is the ratio of the change in collector current to the change in base current. The symbol β {\displaystyle \beta } is used for both h FE {\displaystyle h_{\text{FE}}} and h fe {\displaystyle h_{\text{fe}}} . The emitter current

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6138-402: The current–voltage relation of the base–emitter junction, which is the usual exponential current–voltage curve of a p–n junction (diode). The explanation for collector current is the concentration gradient of minority carriers in the base region. Due to low-level injection (in which there are much fewer excess carriers than normal majority carriers) the ambipolar transport rates (in which

6237-476: The cutoff region. The diagram shows a schematic representation of an NPN transistor connected to two voltage sources. (The same description applies to a PNP transistor with reversed directions of current flow and applied voltage.) This applied voltage causes the lower p–n junction to become forward biased, allowing a flow of electrons from the emitter into the base. In active mode, the electric field existing between base and collector (caused by V CE ) will cause

6336-729: The depletion layer and C ox {\displaystyle C_{\text{ox}}} = capacitance of the oxide layer. This equation is generally used, but is only an adequate approximation for the source tied to the bulk. For the source not tied to the bulk, the subthreshold equation for drain current in saturation is I D ≈ I D0 e V G − V th n V T e − V S V T . {\displaystyle I_{\text{D}}\approx I_{\text{D0}}e^{\frac {V_{\text{G}}-V_{\text{th}}}{nV_{\text{T}}}}e^{-{\frac {V_{\text{S}}}{V_{\text{T}}}}}.} In

6435-672: The design of digital integrated circuits. The incidental low performance BJTs inherent in CMOS ICs, however, are often utilized as bandgap voltage reference , silicon bandgap temperature sensor and to handle electrostatic discharge . The germanium transistor was more common in the 1950s and 1960s but has a greater tendency to exhibit thermal runaway . Since germanium p-n junctions have a lower forward bias than silicon, germanium transistors turn on at lower voltage. Various methods of manufacturing bipolar transistors were developed. BJTs can be thought of as two diodes (p–n junctions) sharing

6534-467: The device may be referred to as a metal-insulator-semiconductor FET (MISFET). Compared to the MOS capacitor, the MOSFET includes two additional terminals ( source and drain ), each connected to individual highly doped regions that are separated by the body region. These regions can be either p or n type, but they must both be of the same type, and of opposite type to the body region. The source and drain (unlike

6633-511: The direction of current on diagrams is shown as the direction that a positive charge would move. This is called conventional current . However, current in metal conductors is generally due to the flow of electrons. Because electrons carry a negative charge, they move in the direction opposite to conventional current. On the other hand, inside a bipolar transistor, currents can be composed of both positively charged holes and negatively charged electrons. In this article, current arrows are shown in

6732-468: The effect of thermal energy on the Fermi–Dirac distribution of electron energies which allow some of the more energetic electrons at the source to enter the channel and flow to the drain. This results in a subthreshold current that is an exponential function of gate-source voltage. While the current between drain and source should ideally be zero when the transistor is being used as a turned-off switch, there

6831-424: The electron is now fixed onto the atom and immobile. As the voltage at the gate increases, there will be a point at which the surface above the depletion region will be converted from p-type into n-type, as electrons from the bulk area will start to get attracted by the larger electric field. This is known as inversion . The threshold voltage at which this conversion happens is one of the most important parameters in

6930-416: The emitter–base junction. The bipolar junction transistor, unlike other transistors, is usually not a symmetrical device. This means that interchanging the collector and the emitter makes the transistor leave the forward active mode and start to operate in reverse mode. Because the transistor's internal structure is usually optimized for forward-mode operation, interchanging the collector and the emitter makes

7029-479: The excess majority and minority carriers flow at the same rate) is in effect determined by the excess minority carriers. Detailed transistor models of transistor action, such as the Gummel–Poon model , account for the distribution of this charge explicitly to explain transistor behaviour more exactly. The charge-control view easily handles phototransistors , where minority carriers in the base region are created by

7128-414: The exponential I–V curve is key to the operation, the transistors are usually modeled as voltage-controlled current sources whose transconductance is proportional to their collector current. In general, transistor-level circuit analysis is performed using SPICE or a comparable analog-circuit simulator, so mathematical model complexity is usually not of much concern to the designer, but a simplified view of

7227-474: The first planar transistors, in which drain and source were adjacent at the same surface. They showed that silicon dioxide insulated, protected silicon wafers and prevented dopants from diffusing into the wafer. At Bell Labs, the importance of Frosch and Derick technique and transistors was immediately realized. Results of their work circulated around Bell Labs in the form of BTL memos before being published in 1957. At Shockley Semiconductor , Shockley had circulated

7326-410: The following identities: Beta is a convenient figure of merit to describe the performance of a bipolar transistor, but is not a fundamental physical property of the device. Bipolar transistors can be considered voltage-controlled devices (fundamentally the collector current is controlled by the base–emitter voltage; the base current could be considered a defect and is controlled by the characteristics of

7425-483: The form of CMOS logic . The basic principle of the field-effect transistor was first patented by Julius Edgar Lilienfeld in 1925. In 1934, inventor Oskar Heil independently patented a similar device in Europe. In the 1940s, Bell Labs scientists William Shockley , John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain attempted to build a field-effect device, which led to their discovery of the transistor effect. However,

7524-413: The gate leads to a higher electron density in the inversion layer and therefore increases the current flow between the source and drain. For gate voltages below the threshold value, the channel is lightly populated, and only a very small subthreshold leakage current can flow between the source and the drain. When a negative gate-source voltage (positive source-gate) is applied, it creates a p-channel at

7623-408: The gate voltage at which the volume density of electrons in the inversion layer is the same as the volume density of holes in the body is called the threshold voltage . When the voltage between transistor gate and source ( V G ) exceeds the threshold voltage ( V th ), the difference is known as overdrive voltage . This structure with p-type body is the basis of the n-type MOSFET, which requires

7722-416: The increase in power consumption due to gate current leakage, a high-κ dielectric is used instead of silicon dioxide for the gate insulator, while polysilicon is replaced by metal gates (e.g. Intel , 2009). The gate is separated from the channel by a thin insulating layer, traditionally of silicon dioxide and later of silicon oxynitride . Some companies use a high-κ dielectric and metal gate combination in

7821-818: The lack of channel region near the drain. Although the channel does not extend the full length of the device, the electric field between the drain and the channel is very high, and conduction continues. The drain current is now weakly dependent upon drain voltage and controlled primarily by the gate-source voltage, and modeled approximately as: I D = μ n C ox 2 W L [ V GS − V th ] 2 [ 1 + λ V DS ] . {\displaystyle I_{\text{D}}={\frac {\mu _{n}C_{\text{ox}}}{2}}{\frac {W}{L}}\left[V_{\text{GS}}-V_{\text{th}}\right]^{2}\left[1+\lambda V_{\text{DS}}\right].} The additional factor involving λ,

7920-400: The majority of these electrons to cross the upper p–n junction into the collector to form the collector current I C . The remainder of the electrons recombine with holes, the majority carriers in the base, making a current through the base connection to form the base current, I B . As shown in the diagram, the emitter current, I E , is the total transistor current, which is the sum of

8019-469: The other terminal currents, (i.e. I E  =  I B  +  I C ). In the diagram, the arrows representing current point in the direction of conventional current – the flow of electrons is in the opposite direction of the arrows because electrons carry negative electric charge . In active mode, the ratio of the collector current to the base current is called the DC current gain . This gain

8118-470: The p-type base where they diffuse as minority carriers to the reverse-biased n-type collector and are swept away by the electric field in the reverse-biased collector–base junction. For an illustration of forward and reverse bias, see semiconductor diodes . In 1954, Jewell James Ebers and John L. Moll introduced their mathematical model of transistor currents: The DC emitter and collector currents in active mode are well modeled by an approximation to

8217-794: The performance of resulting transistors far exceeded what was then thought to be the limit of traditionally manufactured silicon devices, enabling a new generation of low cost commercial wireless technologies such as WiFi. SiGe processes achieve costs similar to those of silicon CMOS manufacturing and are lower than those of other heterojunction technologies such as gallium arsenide . Recently, organogermanium precursors (e.g. isobutylgermane , alkylgermanium trichlorides, and dimethylaminogermanium trichloride) have been examined as less hazardous liquid alternatives to germane for MOVPE deposition of Ge-containing films such as high purity Ge, SiGe, and strained silicon . SiGe foundry services are offered by several semiconductor technology companies. AMD disclosed

8316-486: The preprint of their article in December 1956 to all his senior staff, including Jean Hoerni , who would later invent the planar process in 1959 while at Fairchild Semiconductor . After this, J.R. Ligenza and W.G. Spitzer studied the mechanism of thermally grown oxides, fabricated a high quality Si/ SiO 2 stack and published their results in 1960. Following this research, Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng proposed

8415-489: The resulting material being of any use. Meyerson and co-workers discovered that the then believed requirement for high temperature processing was flawed, allowing SiGe growth at sufficiently low temperatures such that for all practical purposes no defects were formed. Once having resolved that basic roadblock, it was shown that resultant SiGe materials could be manufactured into high performance electronics using conventional low cost silicon processing toolsets. More relevant,

8514-399: The semiconductor surface the conduction band edge is brought close to the Fermi level, populating the surface with electrons in an inversion layer or n-channel at the interface between the p region and the oxide. This conducting channel extends between the source and the drain, and current is conducted through it when a voltage is applied between the two electrodes. Increasing the voltage on

8613-421: The semiconductor's minority-carrier lifetime. Having a lightly doped base ensures recombination rates are low. In particular, the thickness of the base must be much less than the diffusion length of the carriers. The collector–base junction is reverse-biased, and so negligible carrier injection occurs from the collector to the base, but carriers that are injected into the base from the emitter, and diffuse to reach

8712-599: The structure failed to show the anticipated effects, due to the problem of surface states : traps on the semiconductor surface that hold electrons immobile. With no surface passivation , they were only able to build the BJT and thyristor transistors. In 1955, Carl Frosch and Lincoln Derick accidentally grew a layer of silicon dioxide over the silicon wafer, for which they observed surface passivation effects. By 1957 Frosch and Derick, using masking and predeposition, were able to manufacture silicon dioxide field effect transistors;

8811-418: The surface of the n region, analogous to the n-channel case, but with opposite polarities of charges and voltages. When a voltage less negative than the threshold value (a negative voltage for the p-channel) is applied between gate and source, the channel disappears and only a very small subthreshold current can flow between the source and the drain. The device may comprise a silicon on insulator device in which

8910-410: The surface will be immobile (negative) atoms of the acceptor type, which creates a depletion region on the surface. A hole is created by an acceptor atom, e.g., boron, which has one less electron than a silicon atom. Holes are not actually repelled, being non-entities; electrons are attracted by the positive field, and fill these holes. This creates a depletion region where no charge carriers exist because

9009-417: The thermal voltage V T = k T / q {\displaystyle V_{\text{T}}=kT/q} and the slope factor n is given by: n = 1 + C dep C ox , {\displaystyle n=1+{\frac {C_{\text{dep}}}{C_{\text{ox}}}},} with C dep {\displaystyle C_{\text{dep}}} = capacitance of

9108-417: The three currents in any operating region are given below. These equations are based on the transport model for a bipolar junction transistor. where As the collector–base voltage ( V CB = V CE − V BE {\displaystyle V_{\text{CB}}=V_{\text{CE}}-V_{\text{BE}}} ) varies, the collector–base depletion region varies in size. An increase in

9207-443: The three operational modes are: When V GS < V th : where V GS {\displaystyle V_{\text{GS}}} is gate-to-source bias and V th {\displaystyle V_{\text{th}}} is the threshold voltage of the device. According to the basic threshold model, the transistor is turned off, and there is no conduction between drain and source. A more accurate model considers

9306-459: The transistor in response to an increase in the collector–base voltage. When the base–collector voltage reaches a certain (device-specific) value, the base–collector depletion region boundary meets the base–emitter depletion region boundary. When in this state the transistor effectively has no base. The device thus loses all gain when in this state. SiGe SiGe ( / ˈ s ɪ ɡ iː / or / ˈ s aɪ dʒ iː / ), or silicon–germanium ,

9405-421: The valence band), the semiconductor type changes at the surface as dictated by the relative positions of the Fermi and Intrinsic energy levels. A MOSFET is based on the modulation of charge concentration by a MOS capacitance between a body electrode and a gate electrode located above the body and insulated from all other device regions by a gate dielectric layer. If dielectrics other than an oxide are employed,

9504-428: The values of α and β in reverse operation much smaller than those in forward operation; often the α of the reverse mode is lower than 0.5. The lack of symmetry is primarily due to the doping ratios of the emitter and the collector. The emitter is heavily doped, while the collector is lightly doped, allowing a large reverse bias voltage to be applied before the collector–base junction breaks down. The collector–base junction

9603-670: The voltage applied across the base–emitter terminals cause the current between the emitter and the collector to change significantly. This effect can be used to amplify the input voltage or current. BJTs can be thought of as voltage-controlled current sources , but are more simply characterized as current-controlled current sources, or current amplifiers, due to the low impedance at the base. Early transistors were made from germanium but most modern BJTs are made from silicon . A significant minority are also now made from gallium arsenide , especially for very high speed applications (see HBT, below). The heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT)

9702-746: Was about 100 times slower than contemporary bipolar transistors and was initially seen as inferior. Nevertheless, Kahng pointed out several advantages of the device, notably ease of fabrication and its application in integrated circuits . Usually the semiconductor of choice is silicon . Some chip manufacturers, most notably IBM and Intel , use an alloy of silicon and germanium ( SiGe ) in MOSFET channels. Many semiconductors with better electrical properties than silicon, such as gallium arsenide , do not form good semiconductor-to-insulator interfaces, and thus are not suitable for MOSFETs. Research continues on creating insulators with acceptable electrical characteristics on other semiconductor materials. To overcome

9801-499: Was invented in December 1947 at the Bell Telephone Laboratories by John Bardeen and Walter Brattain under the direction of William Shockley . The junction version known as the bipolar junction transistor (BJT), invented by Shockley in 1948, was for three decades the device of choice in the design of discrete and integrated circuits . Nowadays, the use of the BJT has declined in favor of CMOS technology in

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