On the flicker noise in submicron silicon MOSFETs

An overview is given of recent theoretical concepts and experimental findings with respect to the flicker or lif noise in advanced silicon MOSFETs. First, a summary will be given of the theoretical models which to date are being considered for modeling of the flicker noise phenomenon. These will be confronted with experimental evidence, from which the likely validity range of the different models and their possible limitations follow. Next, attention will be paid to the impact of technology scaling to submicron dimensions on the 1/f noise. Finally, the effect of specific advanced processing steps, typical for submicron CMOS technology will be highlighted and guidelines for low-noise processing will be formulated. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.