A New Method to Achieve RF Linearity in SOI Nanowire MOSFETs

Ali Razaavieh, Purdue University - Main Campus
Navab Singh, Institute of Microelectronics, Singapore
Abhijeet Paul, Purdue University - Main Campus
Gerhard Klimeck, Purdue University - Main Camlpus
David Janes, Purdue University - Main Campus
Joerg Appenzeller, Purdue University - Main Camplus

Abstract

Our experiments show that linearity can be achieved if transistors are designed to operate in the one- dimensional ballistic transport regime in the quantum capacitance limit. We report third order intercept points (IIP3) of around -13dBm at maximum transconductance under these particular transport and device operation conditions, meeting the requirements for state-of-the–art mobile communication systems. The advantage of our approach becomes most apparent when normalizing the IIP3 values with power at maximum transconductance. Although, our results do not yet show an improvement over devices operating in the velocity saturation regime due to the presence of scattering, they provide compelling evidence for the potential of our approach. Our findings make our approach an excellent candidate for low power applications in the early stages of RF receivers when linearity is critical. Index Terms — Ballistic Transport, Linearity, Nanowire Transistor, 1-D Transport, Quantum Capacitance, RF CMOS, Transconductance.

Discipline(s)

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology