Metal—Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors

Abstract

The metal—oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) is the most widely used semiconductor device in very-large-scale-integrated (VLSI) circuits because of its compactness and low power consumption (Tsividis, 1987; Nicollian and Brews, 1982; Pierret, 1983). The principle of the surface field-effect transistor was first proposed in the early 1930s by Lilienfeld (1930) and Heil (1935). It was subsequently studied by Shockley and Pearson (1948) in the late 1940s. In 1960, Kahng and Atalla (1960) proposed and fabricated the first MOSFET, using a thermally oxidized silicon structure. The basic device characteristics have been subsequently studied by Ihantola and Moll (Ihantola, 1961; Ihantola and Moll, 1964), Sah (1964), and Hofstein and Heiman (1963). Unlike the bipolar junction transistor, the current in the MOSFET is transported predominantly by the majority carriers, and the MOSFET is a four-terminal device with source, drain, gate, and substrate terminals.