A Novel General Compact Model Approach for 7-nm Technology Node Circuit Optimization from Device Perspective and beyond

Abstract

This work presents a novel general compact model for 7-nm technology node devices like FinFETs as an extension of previous conventional compact model that based on some less accurate elements including one-dimensional Poisson equation for three-dimensional devices and analytical equations for short channel effects, quantum effects and other physical effects. The general compact model exhibits efficient extraction, high accuracy, strong scaling capability and excellent transfer capability. As a demo application, two key design knobs of FinFET and their multiple impacts on RC control electrostatic discharge (ESD) power clamp circuit are systematically evaluated with implementation of the newly proposed general compact model, accounting for device design, circuit performance optimization and variation control. The performance of ESD power clamp can be improved extremely. This framework is also suitable for path-finding researches on 5-nm node gate-all-around devices, like nanowire (NW) FETs, nanosheet (NSH) FETs and beyond.