MOSFET

Note

Level 1, 2, 3 and 17 MOSFETs are described in this section. For other devices:

In this topic:

Netlist Entry

Mxxxx drain gate source bulk modelname [L=length] [W=width]
+ [AD=drain_area] [AS=source_area]
+ [PD=drain_perimeter] [PS=source_perimeter]
+ [NRD=drain_squares] [NRS=source_squares]
+ [NRB=bulk_squares]
+ [OFF] [IC=vds,vgs,vbs] [TEMP=local_temp] [M=area]
drain Drain node
gate Gate node
source Source node
bulk Bulk (substrate) node
modelname Name of model. Must begin with a letter but can contain any character except whitespace and period '.'
(The following 8 parameters are not supported by the level 17 MOSFET model)
length Channel length (metres).
width Channel width (metres).
drain_area Drain area (m2).
source_area Source area (m2).
drain_perimeter Drain perimeter (metres).
source_perimeter Source perimeter (metres).
drain_squares Equivalent number of squares for drain resistance
source_squares Equivalent number of squares for source resistance
gate_squares Equivalent number of squares for gate resistance. Level=3 only
bulk_squares Equivalent number of squares for gate resistance. Level=3 only
OFF Instructs simulator to calculate operating point analysis with device initially off. This is used in latching circuits such as thyristors and bistables to induce a particular state. See .OP for more details.
vds, vgs, vbs Initial condition voltages for drain-source gate-source and bulk(=substrate)-source respectively. These only have an effect if the UIC parameter is specified on the .TRAN statement.
local_temp Local temperature. Overrides specification in .OPTIONS or .TEMP statements.
dtemp Differential temperature. Similar to local_temp but is specified relative to circuit temperature. If both TEMP and DTEMP are specified, TEMP takes precedence. Currently implemented only for LEVEL 1,2 and 3.
Notes SIMetrix supports four types of MOSFET model specified in the model definition. These are referred to as levels 1, 2, 3 and 7. Levels 1,2, and 3 are the same as the SPICE2 and SPICE3 equivalents. Level 17 is proprietary to SIMetrix. For further information see Level 17 MOSFET parameters below.

NMOS Model Syntax

.model modelname NMOS ( level=level_number parameters )

PMOS Model Syntax

.model modelname PMOS ( level=level_number parameters )

MOS Levels 1, 2 and 3: Model Parameters

Name Description Units Default Levels
VTO or VT0 Threshold voltage V 0.0 all
KP Transconductance parameter A/V2 2.0e-5 all
GAMMA Bulk threshold parameter √V 0.0 all
PHI Surface potential V 0.6 all
LAMBDA Channel length modulation 1/V 0.0 all
RG Gate ohmic resistance ???MATH???\Omega???MATH??? 0.0 1,3
RD Drain ohmic resistance ???MATH???\Omega???MATH??? 0.0 all
RS Source ohmic resistance ???MATH???\Omega???MATH??? 0.0 all
RB Bulk ohmic resistance ???MATH???\Omega???MATH??? 0.0 3
RDS Drain-source shunt resistance ???MATH???\Omega???MATH??? ???MATH???\infty???MATH??? 3
CBD B-D junction capacitance F 0.0 all
CBS B-S junction capacitance F 0.0 all
IS Bulk junction sat. current A 1.0e-14 all
PB Bulk junction potential V 0.8 all
CGSO Gate-source overlap capacitance F/m 0.0 all
CGDO Gate-drain overlap capacitance F/m 0.0 all
CGBO Gate-bulk overlap capacitance F/m 0.0 all
RSH Drain and source diffusion resistance ???MATH???\Omega???MATH???/sq. 0.0 all
CJ Zero bias bulk junction bottom capacitance/sq-metre of junction area F/m2 See note all
MJ Bulk junction bottom grading coefficient 0.5 all
CJSW Zero bias bulk junction sidewall capacitance F/m 0.0 all
MJSW Bulk junction sidewall grading coefficient 0.5 1
MJSW as above 0.33 2,3
JS Bulk junction saturation current/sq-metre of junction area A/m2 0.0 all
JSSW Bulk p-n saturation sidewall current/length A/m 0.0 3
TT Bulk p-n transit time secs 0.0 3
TOX Oxide thickness metre 1e-7 all
NSUB Substrate doping 1/cm2 0.0 all
NSS Surface state density 1/cm2 0.0 all
NFS Fast surface state density 1/cm2 0.0 2,3
TPG Type of gate material:
+1 opposite. to substrate
-1 same as substrate
0 Al gate
all
XJ Metallurgical junction depth metre 0.0 2,3
LD Lateral diffusion metre 0.0 all
UO Surface mobility cm2/Vs 600 all
UCRIT Critical field for mobility V/cm 0.0 2
UEXP Critical field exponent in mobility degradation 0.0 2
UTRA Transverse field coefficient (mobility) 0.0 1,3
VMAX Maximum drift velocity of carriers m/s 0.0 2,3
NEFF Total channel charge (fixed and mobile) coefficient 1.0 2
FC Forward bias depletion capacitance coefficient 0.5 all
TNOM, T_MEASURED Reference temperature; the temperature at which the model parameters were measured ???MATH???°???MATH???C 27 all
T_ABS If specified, defines the absolute model temperature overriding the global temperature defined using .TEMP ???MATH???°???MATH???C .TEMP all
T_REL_GLOBAL Offsets global temperature defined using .TEMP. Overridden by T_ABS ???MATH???°???MATH???C 0.0 all
KF Flicker noise coefficient 0.0 all
AF Flicker noise exponent 1.0 all
DELTA Width effect on threshold voltage 0.0 2,3
THETA Mobility modulation 1/V 0.0 3
ETA Static feedback 0.0 3
KAPPA Saturation field factor 0.2 3
W Width metre DEFW all
L Length metre DEFL all
NLEV Noise model 2 all

CJ Default

If not specified CJ defaults to \[ \sqrt{\epsilon_sq\times\text{NSUB}\times1\text{e}6 / (2\times\text{PB})} \] where
  • ???MATH???\epsilon_s???MATH??? = 1.03594314e-10 (permittivity of silicon)
  • q = 1.6021918e-19 (electronic charge)
  • NSUB, PB model parameters

Gate Charge Model, Levels 1, 2 and 3

Two gate charge models are available for MOS Levels 1, 2 and 3 selectable by the .OPTIONS setting SPICEMOSCHARGEMODEL:

.OPTIONS SPICEMOSCHARGEMODEL=0|1
The option value is defined as follows:
0 Meyer capacitance model. This is the original model used in SPICE2 and SPICE3 and derivatives. The gate charge is defined by its capacitance and does not conserve charge
1 Yang-Chatterjee charge model. This is the model used by PSpice. It is charge based and as such does correctly conserve charge

MOS level 1-3 models are predominantly used as part of many manufacturer-designed power MOS and IGBT subcircuit models. In most cases the choice of gate charge model is unimportant. However, for a few models, the results vary significantly with the choice of model used. Most models are designed for PSpice and so the safest choice is the Yang-Chatterjee charge model (.OPTIONS SPICEMOSCHARGEMODEL=1). However, SIMetrix version 8.0 and earlier do not support this model so for compatibility with earlier versions the Meyer capacitance model is the default.

The setting .OPTIONS SPICECOMPATIBILITY=2 automatically enables the Yang-Chatterjee charge model as the default.

Notes for levels 1, 2 and 3:

The three levels 1 to 3 are as follows:

LEVEL 1 Shichman-Hodges model. The simplest and is similar to the JFET model
LEVEL 2 A complex model which models the device according to an understanding of the device physics
LEVEL 3 Simpler than level 2. Uses a semi-empirical approach i.e. the device equations are partly based on observed effects rather than the theory governing its operation
The L and W parameters perform the same function as the L and W parameters on the device line. If omitted altogether they are set to the option values (set with .OPTIONS statement) DEFL and DEFW respectively. These values in turn default to 100 microns.

The above models differ from all other SIMetrix (and SPICE) models in that they contain many geometry relative parameters. The geometry of the device (length, width etc.) is entered on a per component basis and various electrical characteristics are calculated from parameters which are scaled according to those dimensions. This is approach is very much geared towards integrated circuit simulation and is inconvenient for discrete devices. If you are modelling a particular device by hand we recommend you use the level 17 model which is designed for discrete vertical devices.

MOS Level 17: Model Parameters

Name Description Units Default
VTO or VT0 Threshold voltage V 0.0
KP Transconductance parameter A/V2 2.0e-5
GAMMA Bulk threshold parameter ???MATH???\sqrt{\text{V}}???MATH??? 0.0
PHI Surface potential V 0.6
LAMBDA Channel length modulation 1/V 0.0
RD Drain ohmic resistance ???MATH???\Omega???MATH??? 0.0
RS Source ohmic resistance ???MATH???\Omega???MATH??? 0.0
CBD B-D junction capacitance F 0.0
CBS B-S junction capacitance F 0.0
IS Bulk junction sat. current A 1.0e-14
PB Bulk junction potential V 0.8
CGSO Gate-source overlap capacitance F 0.0
CGBO Gate-bulk overlap capacitance F 0.0
CJ Zero bias bulk junction bottom capacitance F 0.0
MJ Bulk junction bottom grading coefficient 0.5
CJSW Zero bias bulk junction sidewall capacitance F 0.0
MJSW Bulk junction sidewall grading coefficient 0.5
FC Forward bias depletion capacitance coefficient 0.5
TNOM Parameter measurement temperature ???MATH???°???MATH???C 27
KF Flicker noise coefficient 0.0
AF Flicker noise exponent 1.0
CGDMAX Maximum value of gate-drain capacitance F 0.0
CGDMIN Minimum value of gate-drain capacitance F 0.0
XG1CGD cgd max-min crossover gradient 1.0
XG2CGD cgd max-min crossover gradient 1.0
VTCGD cgd max-min crossover threshold voltage V 0.0
TC1RD First order temperature coefficient of RD 1/???MATH???°???MATH???C 0.0
TC2RD Second order temperature coefficient of RD 1/???MATH???°???MATH???C2 0.0

Notes for level 17

In SIMetrix version 5.2 and earlier, this model used a level parameter value of 7 instead of the current 17. The number was changed so that a PSpice compatible BSIM3 model (level=7) could be offered. In order to retain backward compatibility, any level 7 model containing the parameters cgdmax, cgdmin, xg1cgd, xg2cgd or vtcgd will automatically be switched to level=17.

The level 17 MOSFET was developed to model discrete vertical MOS transistors rather than the integrated lateral devices that levels 1 to 3 are aimed at. Level 17 is based on level 1 but has the following important additions and changes:

  • New parameters to model gate-drain capacitance
  • 2 new parameters to model rdson variation with temperature.
  • All parameters are absolute rather than geometry relative. (e.g. capacitance is specified in farads not farads/meter)
All MOSFET models supplied with SIMetrix are level 17 types. Many models supplied by manufacturers are subcircuits made up from a level 1, 2 or 3 device with additional circuitry to correctly model the gate-drain capacitance. While the latter approach can be reasonably accurate it tends to be slow because of its complexity.

Gate-drain capacitance equation:

\[ \begin{split} C_{gd} = \left(0.5 - \frac{1}{\pi}\tan^{-1}\left(\left(\text{VTCGD} - v\right) - \text{XG1CGD}\right)\right)\text{CGDMIN} \\ + \left(0.5 - \frac{1}{\pi}\tan^{-1}\left(\left(\text{VTCGD} - v\right)\text{XG2CGD}\right)\right)\text{CGDMAX} \end{split} \]

where ???MATH???v???MATH??? is the gate-drain voltage. This is an empirical formula devised to fit measured characteristics. Despite this it has been found to follow actual measured capacitance to remarkable accuracy.

To model gate-drain capacitance quickly and to acceptable accuracy set the five ???MATH???\text{C}_{\text{gd}}???MATH??? parameters as follows:

  1. Set CGDMIN to minimum possible value of ???MATH???\text{C}_{\text{gd}}???MATH??? i.e. when device is off and drain voltage at maximum.
  2. Set CGDMAX to maximum value of ???MATH???\text{C}_{\text{gd}}???MATH??? i.e. when device is on with drain-source voltage low and gate-source voltage high. If this value is not known use twice the value of ???MATH???\text{C}_{\text{gd}}???MATH??? for ???MATH???\text{V}_{\text{gd}}=0???MATH???.
  3. Set XG2CGD to 0.5, XG1CGD to 0.1 and leave VTCGD at default of 0.
Although the parasitic reverse diode is modelled, it is connected inside the terminal resistances, RD and RS which does not represent real devices very well. Further, parameters such as transit time (TT) which model the reverse recovery characteristics of the parasitic diode are not included. For this reason it is recommended that the reverse diode is modelled as an external component. Models supplied with SIMetrix are subcircuits which include this external diode.