Body Effect For Semiconducting ICs

Technology Brief
Body Effect and Body Biasing

The SuVolta Deeply Depleted Channel (DDC) transistor enables more effective threshold voltage management through body biasing, which leads to lower power consumption and higher yields for deep submicron CMOS technologies. There are a variety of body biasing methodologies that take advantage of the unique properties of the DDC transistor. Adaptive body biasing can be used to correct systematic manufacturing variations, thus decreasing V T variation and improving sort yield. Dynamic body biasing can be used to reduce temperature and aging effects as well as to make power management modes more effective at optimizing very low power operation.
suvolta.com
Body Effect:
Body effect refers to the change in the transistor threshold voltage (V T ) resulting from a voltage difference between the transistor source and body. Because the voltage difference between the source and body affects the V T, the body can be thought of as a second gate that helps determine how the transistor turns on and off. The strength of the body effect is usually quantified by the body coefficient gamma. Strong body effect enables a variety of effective body biasing techniques, and these techniques were used effectively in older process generations. However, body effect has diminished with transistor scaling, and conventional deep-submicron transistors have very little body effect. For this reason body bias is not widely used for 65nm and smaller process technologies. Instead, the transistor bodies are generally connected along with the transistor source to either power (VDD) for p-channel or ground (VSS) for n-channel transistor. The SuVolta DDC transistor, on the other hand, has a stronger body effect than conventional transistors and therefore enables effective V T management through body biasing. This strong body effect is a key enabler of low-power circuit operation for deep submicron CMOS technologies.
Body Bias Methodologies:

There are several different body biasing methodologies. The simplest body bias methodology is to apply a fixed body bias voltage identically to all product chips with the body bias value set during design. In a transistor with strong body effect this fixed body bias augments the role of doping in and near the transistor channel in setting the transistor threshold voltage. Power gating transistors provide an interesting opportunity to use a fixed bias: a fixed forward bias is applied during the on state to reduce the on-resistance of the transistor switch; alternatively, a fixed reverse bias is applied during the off state to reduce the remaining leakage in the power-gated block. A more advanced body bias methodology is to apply an adaptive body bias, where for each chip a different fixed body bias value is calibrated at production test. Adaptive body bias is a valuable tool for overcoming systematic manufacturing variation, which is usually manifested in the product as leakage or timing variation between chips. For instance, forward body bias applied to a slow chip lowers the transistor threshold voltage and speeds up the chip. Conversely, reverse body bias applied to a fast chip increases the transistor threshold voltage and reduces the excess leakage current (and leakage power consumption) of the chip. The ability to tune as-manufactured silicon back toward the electrical target with adaptive body biasing decreases the process technologys effective V T variation and therefore improves the electrically-limited sort yield of the product. It also means that designers do not have to build as much margin into their designs, reducing design time and thus time-to-market because timing closure is easier to achieve over the smaller effective manufacturing range. Dynamic body bias, on the other hand, changes the body bias multiple times while the chip is operating rather than setting the body bias just once either during design or at production test. Consequently, dynamic body bias can be used to reduce temperature and aging effects as well as to make power management modes more effective at optimizing very low power operation.
Body Bias:
Body bias involves connecting the transistor bodies to a bias network in the circuit layout rather than to power or ground. The body bias can be supplied from an external (off-chip) source or an internal (on-chip) source. In the on-chip approach, the design usually includes a charge pump circuit to generate a reverse body bias voltage and/or a voltage divider to generate a forward body bias voltage. Reverse body bias, which involves applying a negative body-to-source voltage to an n-channel transistor, raises the threshold voltage and thereby makes the transistor both slower and less leaky. Forward body bias, on the other hand, lowers the threshold voltage by applying a positive body-to-source voltage to an n-channel transistor and thereby makes the transistor both faster and leakier. The polarities of the applied bias described above are the opposite for a p-channel transistor.
Body Effect and Body Biasing
Copyright 2011 SuVolta, Inc. All rights reserved.
suvolta.com
For instance, dynamic body bias can adjust the transistor V T to compensate for changes in the transistor as the product ages. Dynamic body bias can also adjust the transistor V T to compensate for temperature-related changes in the transistor V T as the part heats up and cools down, maintaining more uniform performance and leakage. In both cases the use of dynamic body bias is a key enabler of sub-one-volt, low-power circuit operation because it maintains sufficient transistor gate overdrive. Gate overdrive is the difference between the power supply voltage applied to the transistor gate and the transistor threshold voltage (that is, VGS - V T ) that controls transistor drive current. At a given body bias, as the power supply voltage is lowered to reduce power consumption the gate overdrive is also reduced: in a typical example with V T = 400 mV the gate overdrive is lowered from 600 mV to 200 mV as the power supply is lowered from 1.0 volts to 0.6 volts. Because transistor speed is roughly proportional to gate overdrive this reduction in power supply voltage reduces the circuits performance along with its power consumption. Designing for only 200 mV gate overdrive is difficult, but it is still doable. The real difficulties start when margins are considered. One of these margins is temperature, i.e. the chip is supposed to work at low and high temperatures. The parameter most affected by temperature is V T, which can shift by 1 mV or more per degree Centigrade. A shift of 100 mV between hot and cold is not unusual and must be designed for if the part is operated
across a full temperature range. It also means that the gate overdrive in the example above is not constant at 200 mV but could vary between 100 mV and 300 mV, potentially resulting in much slower parts than expected. Such variation makes the design much more complex as timing has to be closed at three different speeds even before taking manufacturing variation into account. Thus, by managing the circuit body bias as a function of the temperature, the gate overdrive can be kept more constant. This ability to manage V T and therefore gate overdrive is a key enabler of sub-one-volt, low-power circuit operation. Finally, dynamic body bias can be used to optimize the performance and power of the product during operation. This ability is particularly important in complex system-on-a-chip (SOC) products that have a multitude of circuit blocks with different performance and power requirements during system operation. Dynamic body bias can be used to raise the threshold voltage and reduce power consumption in a block during periods when performance is not critical or a standby mode is possible, or to lower threshold voltage and increase performance in a block when maximum performance is needed. This ability to optimize with dynamic body bias allows the designer to use a large number of low-V T transistors to enhance maximum performance because leakage can be dialed back when lower performance is acceptable.
Conclusion:
In the case of all of these body bias methodologies, SuVoltas circuits and design techniques take advantage of the increased body effect provided by the DDC transistor to reduce power consumption and increase yields by managing V T more effectively than possible with a conventional transistor.
For more information contact: SuVolta, Inc., 130-D Knowles Drive, Los Gatos, California 95032-1832 USA office +1 (408) 866 4125 fax +1 (408) 866 6931 sales@suvolta.com
Disclaimer This information is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by SuVolta. Content is provided for general reference purposes only. All content is provided AS IS, without warranty of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise, including any implied warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. Although SuVolta tries to ensure the accuracy of the information presented on the Website, this information is offered without any representations as to its completeness or accuracy. SuVolta is not responsible for any errors or omissions on suvolta.com.
Copyright 2011 SuVolta, Inc. All rights reserved. SuVolta, Deeply Depleted Channel and PowerShrink are trademarks of SuVolta, Inc. SuVolta reserves the right to add to its trademarks at any time, and SuVolta will endeavor to update this Terms of Use accordingly. All other trademarks that may be used on the Website are the property of their respective owners. SuVoltas technology and information are the intellectual property of SuVolta. There are no licenses granted with respect to intellectual property of any kind, including patents, copyright, trade secret and trademark, whether express, or implied, by waiver or estoppel or otherwise. All licenses by SuVolta, shall only be express and in writing signed by the CEO.

Body Effect For Semiconducting ICs

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Body Effect For Semiconducting ICs

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Body Effect For Semiconducting ICs

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Technology Brief

Body Effect and Body Biasing

Body Bias Methodologies:

Body Effect and Body Biasing

Copyright 2011 SuVolta, Inc. All rights reserved.

You might also like