Circuit simulation of floating-gate FET (FGFET) for logic application

Abstract

In this study, a floating-gate field-effect transistor (FGFET) structure is proposed and verified through simulations. Current memory devices often rely on the von Neumann architecture which suffers from von Neumann bottleneck. The proposed FGFET is not vulnerable to the von Neumann bottleneck because the memory cell and process unit do not function separately. FGFET is composed with Sensor FET(SFET) and Vertical FET(VFET), which can form a memory node with connection of each part. Moreover, the advantage of FGFET is that the conventional CMOS process can be used. In this regard, the developed FGFET using the existing CMOS process shows that the circuit size, power consumption, and operation delay are significantly reduced compared to a conventional logic circuit. Furthermore, various circuit simulations comprising the proposed FGFET, such as an inverter and NAND/NOR gate, are performed, highlighting the advantages of the proposed FGFET. This study lays the foundation for using a CMOS-based memory logic integrated device and architecture for alleviating the von Neumann bottleneck.

Keywords

• Von Neumann architecture
• Floating gate FET (FGFET)
• Sensor FET (SFET)
• TCAD
• Vertical FET (VFET)