Unified noise characterisation technique for CMOS technology

A standardised approach to characterising low-frequency noise for semiconductor devices is presented in this paper. The purpose of this measurement technique is to easily compare performances of different devices from different technologies in order to develop high-precision low-noise technology.

The methodology which measures noise current at the output of the device is used for accurate model extraction and also for statistical data collection. Additionally, a technique developed to quantify the noise performance of MOSFET in the form of a noise figure-of-merit (FOM) as part of the device specification is summarised in this paper. The results and analysis presented in this paper will be based on MOSFETs fabricated on silicon wafers.