Numerical simulation and analytical modelling of self-heating in FDSOI MOSFETs down to very deep cryogenic temperatures

TL;DR

This paper presents pioneering TCAD simulations and an analytical model for self-heating in 30nm FDSOI MOSFETs at cryogenic temperatures, enabling accurate prediction of thermal behavior under extreme conditions.

Contribution

It introduces the first TCAD simulations and an analytical model for self-heating in FDSOI MOSFETs at very low temperatures, calibrated against experimental data.

Findings

Self-heating temperature rise exceeds ambient temperature more at cryogenic levels.

The SHE model accurately predicts dTmax(Pd) and Rth(Ta) behaviors.

Sub-linear dTmax(Pd) behavior aligns with experimental data.

Abstract

Self-heating (SHE) TCAD numerical simulations have been performed, for the first time, on 30nm FDSOI MOS transistors at extremely low temperatures. The self-heating temperature rise dTmax and the thermal resistance Rth are computed as functions of the ambient temperature Ta and the dissipated electrical power (Pd), considering calibrated silicon and oxide thermal conductivities. The characteristics of the SHE temperature rise dTmax(Pd) display sub-linear behavior at sufficiently high levels of dissipated power, in line with standard FDSOI SHE experimental data. It has been observed that the SHE temperature rise dTmax can significantly exceed the ambient temperature more easily at very low temperatures. Furthermore, a detailed thermal analysis of the primary heat flows in the FDSOI device has been conducted, leading to the development of an analytical SHE model calibrated against TCAD simulation data. This SHE analytical model accurately describes the dTmax(Pd) and Rth(Ta) characteristics of an FDSOI MOS device operating at extreme low ambient temperatures. These TCAD simulations and analytical models hold great promise for predicting the SHE and electro-thermal performance of FDSOI MOS transistors against ambient temperature and dissipated power.