Subthreshold Mismatch in Nanometer CMOS at Cryogenic Temperatures

Abstract

Cryogenic device models are essential for the reliable design of the cryo-CMOS electronic interface necessary to build future large-scale quantum computers. This paper reports the characterization of the drain-current mismatch of NMOS and PMOS devices fabricated in a commercial 40-nm bulk CMOS process over the temperature range from 4.2K to 300 K. By analysing the variability of device parameters over a wide range of device area and length, the validity of the Pelgrom area-scaling law is assessed for the threshold voltage, the current factor and the subthreshold swing. The Croon model is employed to model the drain-current mismatch in moderate to strong inversion, while the weak inversion region is modeled by taking the subthreshold slope variability into account. This results in the first model capable of predicting CMOS-device mismatch over all operating regions and in the whole temperature range from 300K down to 4.2K.