Lab 6

Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
Field Effect Transistor
(MOSFET) Characterization
Objectives
To study the MOSFET characteristics and to
learn how to determine the following MOSFET
parameters:
 Threshold voltage, VT
 Transconductance parameter, kn
 Output resistance, ro
 Channel-length modulation parameter, λ

2
Introduction and
Related Theory
The metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor
(MOSFET) is by far the most widely used field-effect
transistor in both digital and analog circuits. The
MOSFET is composed of a channel of N-type or P-
type semiconductor material, and they are
sometimes referred to as NMOSFET (nMOS) or a
PMOSFET (pMOS).

Schematic Symbol 4
Biasing a N-Channel MOSFET

5
Output Characteristic Curve

6
MOSFET Equation in the Triode region

W 1 2 
iD  k '
v
n GS  Vt v DS  v DS  (1)
L 2 
where
iD = the drain current (A)
k n' = the process transconductance parameter, (A/V2)
W = the channel width of the MOSFET (m)
L = the channel length of the MOSFET (m)
vGS = the gate-to-source voltage
VtN = the gate-to-source threshold voltage (V)
vDS = the drain-to-source voltage (V)

7
MOSFET Equation in the Saturation
region 1 W
iD  k vGS  VtN 
'
n
2

2 L
For a given value for vGS, there is a point at which
the bending iD-vDS curve reaches saturation. This
point is called pinch off and the curve becomes
horizontal. This occurs because the channel is said
to be pinched off; increasing vDS beyond this point
has little effect on current. The voltage vDS at which
saturation occurs is denoted vDSsat
vDSsat = vGS – VtN
8
iD as an ideal current source
When the instantaneous drain-to-source voltage (vDS)
is larger than vDSsat, the transistor operates in the
saturation region. The ideal drain current is not
dependent on the drain-to-source voltage, the
incremental resistance approaches infinity, and
equation (1) becomes

iD  k n vGS  VtN 
1 'W 2

2 L

9
 Channel length modulation parameter
The independency of drain current implies that the
transistor acts as an ideal current source in this
region. This is only an approximation. In reality,
the current will vary slightly with the drain voltage,
and this variation can be modeled by adding a
parameter λ, the channel-length modulation
parameter, as follows:

iD  k n vGS  VtN  1  v DS 
1 'W 2

2 L
 = the channel-length modulation parameter (V–1).
10
iD vs vDS without channel length modulation iD vs vDS with channel length modulation
=0 0

11
Transconductance parameter, kn
The transconductance parameter is defined as,
𝑾
iD  k n vGS  VtN  1  v DS 
𝒌𝒏 = ′
𝒌𝒏 1 'W 2
𝑳 2 L

Hence, the MOSFET equation operating in the

saturation region can be expressed as,
𝟏 𝟐
𝒊𝑫 = 𝒌𝒏 𝒗𝑮𝑺 − 𝑽𝒕𝑵 𝟏 + 𝝀𝒗𝑫𝑺
𝟐

12
Output resistance, r0
The output resistance of the MOSFET at saturation
region is defined as,
∆𝒗𝑫𝑺
𝒓𝟎 = |𝒗𝑫𝑺 ≥ 𝒗𝑮𝑺 − 𝑽𝒕𝑵
∆𝒊𝑫

13
Determination of MOSFET parameters:
The main parameters that characterize a MOSFET
are:
 Threshold voltage, Vt (VtN for nMOS)
 Transconductance parameter, kn
 The channel-length modulation parameter, λ
 Output resistance, r0

14
MOSFET Characteristics that can be extracted
from the input characteristic curve
 Threshold voltage, Vt (VtN for nMOS)
 Transconductance parameter, kn

MOSFET Characteristics that can be

extracted from the output characteristic
curve
 The channel-length modulation parameter, λ
 Output resistance, r0

15
Characteristic curve
A graph showing the relation existing between current vs. voltage

Input characteristic curve

A graph showing the relation existing between the output
current (iD) vs input voltage (vGS).

𝟏 𝟐
𝒊𝑫 = 𝒌𝒏 𝒗𝑮𝑺 − 𝑽𝒕𝑵 𝟏 + 𝝀𝒗𝑫𝑺
𝟐

16
Identifying VtN from the char. curve
The Threshold Voltage (VtN ) can be measured from the iD vs vGS
characteristic curve shown.
Note that VtN occurs at the point where iD starts to take-off

iD vs vGS
17
 Identifying kn from the char. curve

𝟏
In the saturation region, 𝒊𝑫 = 𝒌𝒏 𝒗𝑮𝑺 − 𝑽𝒕𝑵 𝟐 𝟏 + 𝝀𝒗𝑫𝑺
𝟐
𝟏
Assuming =0, 𝒊𝑫 = 𝒌 𝒗𝑮𝑺 − 𝑽𝒕𝑵 𝟐
𝟐 𝒏

Extracting the square root of both sides of the equation,

𝒌𝒏 𝟐
𝒊𝑫 = 𝒗𝑮𝑺 − 𝑽𝒕𝑵
𝟐

𝒌𝒏 𝒊𝑫
Hence, we will have =
𝟐 𝒗𝑮𝑺 −𝑽𝒕𝑵

18
Identifying kn from the char. curve
The Transconductance parameter (kn) can be measured from the
𝒊𝑫 vs vGS characteristic curve as shown.
The slope of the line tangent to the curve a point at a specific
𝑘𝑛
value of vGS (say at vGS=2.3V) equals
2

𝒌𝒏 = 𝟐 × (𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆)𝟐

𝒊𝑫 vs (vGS – VT)
19
Output characteristic curve
A graph showing the relation existing between the output
current (iD) vs output voltage (vDS) at constant vGS
𝟏 𝟐
𝒊𝑫 = 𝒌𝒏 𝒗𝑮𝑺 − 𝑽𝒕𝑵 𝟏 + 𝝀𝒗𝑫𝑺
𝟐

20
Output Characteristic Curve

iD vs vDS at various value of vGS

21
Identifying r0 and  from the char. curve
The output resistance (r0 ) of the MOSFET at saturation
∆𝒗𝑫𝑺
region is defined as, 𝒓𝟎 = |𝒗𝑫𝑺 ≥ 𝒗𝑮𝑺 − 𝑽𝒕𝑵
∆𝒊𝑫

𝟏
𝝀=
𝑽𝑨

iD vs vDS at various values of vGS

22
Thank you.

23