University of Ottawa Faculty of Engineering

Experiment No. 4 - Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect

Transistor Characteristics
Name/ID:
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1. Objectives
In this lab, you will study the I-V characteristics and small signal model of Metal
Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFET).

2. Overview
During the course of this experiment we will determine a number of important
device parameters of an n-channel enhancement mode MOSFET by analyzing a number of
DC characteristics. The DC characteristics will be split up into three ranges: the sub
threshold region (VGS < VT), the linear region (VT < VGD, VGS > VT), and the saturation
region (VT > VGD, VGS > VT). You will learn the relevance of the current pre-factor (nCi Z /
L ), the channel transconductance (gm), the
channel conductance (gDS), and the channel resistance rd.
Information essential to your understanding of this lab:
1. Theoretical background of the MOSFET (Streetman 6.4.1-6.4.4 & 6.5.1-6.5.2)
Materials necessary for this Experiment:
1. Standard testing station
2. One MOSFET (Part: 2N7000)
3. 1kΩ resistor

3. Background Information
3.1 CHART OF SYMBOLS
Here is a chart of symbols used in this lab manual. This list is not all inclusive;
however, it does contain the most common symbols and their units.

Table 1. Chart of the symbols used in this lab.

Symbol Symbol Name Units
Qi total charge in the insulator C
Qd total charge in the depletion region C
Ci insulator capacitance Farads
iDS total drain to source current mA
IDS DC drain to source current mA
ids AC drain to source current mA
IDSAT saturation drain current mA
Ei Intrinsic energy level eV
EF Fermi energy level eV
potential difference between intrinsic
ΦF energy level and the Fermi-level V
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metal-semiconductor work function
ΦMS difference V
VA voltage applied to the semiconductor V
material
VP Pinch-off voltage V
vDS total drain to source voltage V
VDS DC drain to source voltage V
vds AC drain to source voltage V
vGS Total gate to source voltage V
VGS DC gate to source voltage V
Vgs AC gate to source voltage V
gm Transconductance Scale factor
gDS Channel conductance siemens (S) or mhos ()-1
L Length of channel Cm
Z Width of channel Cm
Max distance the depletion width induced
WMax by the gate can extend Cm
n Electron motilities Cm2/V-sec

3.2 CHART OF EQUATIONS

All of the equations from the background portion of the manual are shown in the table
below.
Table 2. Chart of the equations used in this lab.
Equation Name Formula
1 Square law approximation
I n ZCi
of drain to source current DS = L [(VGS −VT )VDS − .5 VDS 2 ]
V
2 Saturation voltage for a DSAT = VGS −VT
MOSFET
3 Square law approximation
of saturated drain to n ZCi
source I = (V −V )2
current
DSAT GS T
2L
4 Channel conductance
g = I DS = I DS  ( n Ci Z )(V −V −V )
VDS VDS
DS GS T DS
L
5 Transconductance in the
I DS I DS n C i Z
linear region g m= = =( )VDS
VGS VDS =const. VGS VDS =const. L
6 Transconductance in the I DS (sat.)
g m (sat.) = n Ci Z )(V −VT )
saturation region =( GS
V L
GS VDS =const.
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3.3 CURRENT IN A MOSFET
When solving for the current in a MOSFET the first step is to find the conductivity
between the source and the drain. To do this you must integrate each of the
differential conductance elements in the channel from drain to source. After
integrating the differential conductance elements the current in the channel of a
MOSFET reduced to,

I = n ZCi [(V −V )V − 0.5 V 2 ] (1)
DS GS T DS DS
L
where n is the average electron mobility at the Si-SiO2 interface in the channel area,
Z is
the width of the channel, Ci is the capacitance of the oxide layer under the gate, and
L is the length of the channel.
The above equation holds true until pinch-off is reached. When the channel is
pinched off, the drain to source voltage is said to be saturated. The saturation
voltage can be found by the following:
V = V −V .
DSAT GS T (2)
When the drain to source voltage saturates, the drain to source current is also
saturated and it is given by:

I = n ZCi (V −V )2 (3)
DSAT GS T
2L
When the current saturates, it is no longer a linear function of the drain voltage.

3.4 DEVICE PARAMETERS OF MOSFETS

There are several ways of representing the drain current response of the MOSFET as a function of
VDS and VGS. Each method of representation gives unique perspective of the device performance.
Of those, Figure 1 is the most common representation.
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Figure 1. IDS vs. VDS characteristic of an n-channel MOSFET.

Another commonly used representation is IDS1/2 vs. VGS as shown in Figure 2 which
was obtained by biasing the device so that the gate and the drain are at the same
potential. Connecting the gate and the drain contacts together and connecting these
leads to the drain power supply does this. In this connection, saturation condition is
satisfied for all applied voltages where VGS > VT. Taking the square root of both
sides of equation (3) yields a linear relationship between IDS1/2 and VGS – VT.
The dependence of (n ZCi / 2L)1/ 2
on the gate voltage is also shown in Figure 2. The
values are

obtained from the derivative of the IDS1/2 vs. VGS dependence. The max value of (n
)1/ 2 is 0.04 A1/2/V at VGS = 3 V.
ZCi / 2L
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Figure 2. The IDS1/2 as a function of VGS for the case of VGS = VDS.
In the linear I-V region, the MOSFET acts as a resistive load and its conductance is
linearly dependent upon the gate voltage. The channel conductance, gDS, in the linear
region is given by:

g = I DS = I DS  ( n Ci Z )(V −V −V )= 1 (4)
DS
VDS V =constan t VDS V =constan t L GS T DS
rd
GS GS

`
The channel conductance is an important parameter used in the design of analog
switching circuits. It makes possible MOSFET switching circuits without the use of
resistors. Note that at the saturation condition the channel conductance is
(theoretically) zero.
Experimentally, the channel conductance in the linear region is measured by holding
VDS to a value of 50 mV to ensure linear operation. The gate voltage is varied from 0
V to 10 V as the drain current is measured. The value of gDS can then be plotted by
use of (4). Figure 3 shows the measured dependence of gDS as a function of VGS. It
indicates that the channel conductance increases nearly linearly with VGS above
threshold. It is also instructive to note that the slope of this curve is given by n
ZCi / L in the equation (4).
The channel resistance, rd, can be found by the inverse of the channel conductance
gDS. However, while the channel conductance gDS of the MOSFET is of interest in the
linear region, the channel resistance rd is of interest typically in the saturation
region. Theoretically the channel resistance at the saturation condition is expected
to be infinite. However, realistic MOSFET have finite values of the channel
resistance. The channel resistance is an essential component of the small signal model
of a MOSFET (Figure 4). By knowing the channel resistance of a MOSFET, you can
match the load resistance and the MOSFET channel resistance. As a result, you can
maximize the gain of your amplifier. Experimentally you may find the slope of the IDS
vs VDS characteristic in the saturation region and invert it to find the channel
resistance rd.
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As indicated in the equation (4), the channel resistance rd is given by the inverse of
the channel conductance. Figure 5 shows the measured channel resistance rd as a
function of VDS with VGS ranging from 2.5V to 5V in 0.5 V increments.

Figure 3. The measured drain conductance as a function of VGS, for VDS = 0.050 V.

Figure 4. Small signal model of the MOSFET.

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Figure 5. The channel resistance, rd, as a function of VDS for several values of VGS.

The transconductance, gm is typically utilized in the saturation region in conjunction

with the small signal model of a MOSFET to build an amplifier circuit. The
transconductance describes the effect the gate has on the conductivity of the
MOSFET at a certain operating point. The transconductance of a MOSFET in the
linear region is:

g m = I DS = I DS = ( n Ci Z )V DS . (5)
V V L
GS V =const. GS V =const.
DS DS
In the saturation region the equation (5) may be used if you substitute the VD,SAT for
VDS where
VD,SAT =VGS-VT.

(sat.) = I DS (sat.)

g =( n Ci Z )(V −V ). (6)
m GS T
VGS VDS =const.
L
The Figure 6 shows the measured gm as a function of VGS which was obtained by
measuring the amount of the drain current change versus the gate voltage change
with a fixed VDS. It can be seen that there is essentially no current flow and gm is
zero when VGS < VT (before threshold). For 0 < VGS – VT < VDS , the MOSFET operates
in the saturation region and the gm is increasing linearly with increasing VGS – VT. At
higher values of VGS (VGD > VT), the MOSFET operates in the linear region and the gm
levels off corresponding to operation in the linear region.
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Figure 6. The
transconductance, gm, as a function of VGS for various fixed VDS values.
If you know the geometry of your MOSFET, you can find the value of the prefactor,
n ZCi / 2L . L is the length of the channel; Z is the width of the channel. Ci is the
capacitance of the SiO2 insulating layer and is given by: Ci=r/toxide, where toxide is
the thickness of the oxide layer. n is the average electron mobility in the channel
area. The average electron mobility in the channel area of the average silicon
MOSFET is about 650 cm2/V-sec. These values can be used to calculate the drain
current at a given gate voltage
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4. Experimental Part

Step 1 Identify the leads of the MOSFET 2N7000 using Figure 7 and
construct a circuit shown in Figure 8

Figure 7. Identification of the leads on the MOSFET 2N7000

Figure 8. A circuit for obtaining the IDS-VDS, gm-VGS, gDS-VGS, and rd-VGS
characteristics.

V1 is used to supply VGS and the V2 is used to supply VDS.

Step 2 Plot the IDS vs. VDS characteristic. Show the pinch-off locus in
the plot. Make sure both axes are labeled and the graph is
appropriately titled. Use the following reading instructions:
VDS = 0V to 10V in 0.5V steps with VGS = 2V to 3V in 0.2V steps.
Set the current limiting to 200mA
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Step 3 Measure the gDS dependence on VGS in the linear region. Set VDS
to 100 mV and the gate voltage is to be varied from 0.0 V to
10.0 V. The value of gDS is obtained by dividing the measured
current IDS by the constant VDS = 100 mV. Show the plot of the
gDS vs. VGS curves. Make sure both axes are labeled and the
graph is appropriately titled. Mark your plot to show VT.
Step 4 Report the values you obtained for VT and (n ZCi / 2L) from this
data.

Step 5 Find the values of the rd from Step 2 above. Plot the rd vs.
VGS characteristic. Make sure both axes are labeled and the
graph is appropriately titled. Calculate the value of rd using
the derivative method with:

Step 6 Use the same circuit of Figure 8 to measure the gm dependence

on VGS. Set VGS to vary from 0.0 V to 0.5 V in 0.02 V steps with
VDS = 0.2V, 0.4 V, 0.6 V, and 0.8V. Plot IDS vs VGS first and then
Show the plot of the gm vs. VGS curves. gm can be found using
the following derivative equation:

Make sure both axes are labeled and the graph is appropriately
titled. Mark your plot to show VT.

Step 7 Report the values you obtained for VT and (n ZCi / 2L) from this
data

Step 8 Obtain of IDS1/2 – VGS characteristics curve for VDS = VGS.

Make sure both axes are labeled and the graph is appropriately
titled. Mark your plot to show VT.

Step 9 Report the values you obtained for VT and (n ZCi / 2L) from this
data

Step 10 Tabulate all your VT and n ZCi / 2L for different measurement

curves

1
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Step 11 In your opinion which characteristic is the best one to use to

find VT and n ZCi / 2L Explain your answer.

Step 12 Use Multisim to verfy your results, for steps 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,

9 and 10

Write a laboratory report including introduction, your

results and conclusions of the conducted experiments!

Do not forget to answer the questions raised in the

laboratory sheets in your laboratory report!!