Integrated radio frequency circuit devices

Background

0001This invention relates generally to integrated circuits for radio frequency devices and particularly to advanced integrated circuits which use lower supply voltages and smaller device geometries.

0002As integrated circuits scale to smaller and smaller geometries and supply voltages continue to decrease, a number of technologies which rely on voltage differences have become increasingly more difficult to implement in an effective fashion. The use of smaller voltages means that the speed at which devices operate may be diminished.

0003As integrated circuits have scaled to smaller and smaller geometries, designers have been effective in reducing the power-supply voltages which such devices utilize. While it is very advantageous to decrease the necessary power supply voltage, a number of problems arise with respect to the "on" resistance when the supply voltage decreases. See L.A. Glasser and D. W. Dobberpuhl, <u>The Design and Analysis of VLSI Circuits,</u> (December 1985) published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. at page 108. The transistor linear region resistance is inversely proportional to the gate to source voltage or "V_GS" less the threshold voltage or "V_T".

0004As the supply voltage is scaled to ever lower voltages, this voltage difference can be reduced significantly. In addition, the transistor saturation voltage scales as (V_GS - V_T) decreases. As the device geometry scales, transistors may also run into what is known as "velocity saturation". Thus, the voltage range where the transistor operates in the linear region becomes increasing narrow as geometries and supply voltages are scaled.

0005Radio frequency devices, as used herein, are integrated circuits that generate signals in the radio frequency range. Many of these devices include not only analog processing functions but logic functions as well. This is particularly true as integrated circuits advance to the point where both logic and analog processing are on the same integrated circuit. For example, if a cellular telephone were to be integrated into a single integrated circuit for cost reduction and increased performance reasons, an integrated microprocessor and analog radio frequency section may-be included on the exact same integrated circuit.

0006Thus, in at least some analog radio frequency processing applications, it may be desirable to have the latest transistor technology which achieves the highest operating speed due to the higher transistor switching speeds. This generally means that the geometries for feature sizes of the integrated circuit elements must be scaled progressively smaller and smaller. At the same time, smaller geometries generally mean lower operating voltages. Thus, as the geometries of the transistors become smaller and more integrated circuit transistors are packed into the same unit area, the supply voltages are progressively decreasing. Lower supply voltages may be advantageous since not only are they amenable to ever smaller geometries, but they may also result in less power consumption. This may be a particular issue in battery powered devices.

0007However, a problem arises with respect to at least one component particularly utilized in connection with radio frequency devices. Radio frequency devices need a power amplifier which is capable of amplifying an input signal to substantially higher levels for transmission by these radio-frequency devices. Thus, a relatively compact portable device, as one example, needs to have a transmitter that is powerful enough to generate a radio frequency signal that can be received at a sufficient distance away to make the device useful.

0008Of course, with the latest transistor technologies, the available transistors may be relatively fast but they may also have relatively low voltage power supplies. Thus, the design of the power amplifier is relatively difficult because the power from the power amplifier is a function of the square of the supply voltage divided by the resistance. Thus, the lower the supply voltage, the less power that can be generated by the power amplifier. And even if the resistance of the smaller geometry integrated circuit is significantly less, a limit is reached with respect to the amplitude of the power that may be generated. Particularly since power is related to the square of the voltage, it is relatively important to provide sufficient voltage levels to increase power output from power amplifiers.

0009Thus, there is a need for a radio frequency integrated circuit device with both a power amplifier that can generate sufficient power and, at the same time, relatively high frequency, smaller geometry transistors.

Brief Description of the Drawings

0010<ul id="ul0001" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li>Figure 1 is a greatly enlarged top plan view of a die in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;</li><li>Figure 2 is a schematic view of the die power supplies;</li><li>Figure 3 is a partial, enlarged cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 3-3 in Figure 1;</li><li>Figure 4 is a partial, enlarged cross-sectional view taken generally along the line 4-4 in Figure 1;</li><li>Figure 5 is a circuit diagram of one illustrative NMOS transfer gate;</li><li>Figure 6 is a circuit diagram of one illustrative CMOS transfer gate; and</li><li>Figure 7 is a block diagram of a radio frequency device in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.</li></ul>

Detailed Description

0011Referring to Figure 1, an integrated circuit device is implemented on a semiconductor die 10 which is formed by cutting the die from a conventional semiconductor wafer (not shown). Formed on the die 10 are a large number of MOS transistors connected to implement the desired device functionality.

0012The majority of the topology of the die 10 maybe taken up by the area 12, populated by conventional logic circuitry. The area 14 of the die 10 has MOS transistors (not shown) having gate oxides which are thicker than the gate oxides of the transistors formed in the area 12. A subset of the area 14, labeled 16 in Figure 1, includes devices having a thicker gate oxide that are formed in an embedded P-well (not shown). In this way, transistors with at least two different gate oxide thicknesses are provided and certain devices may be formed in an embedded P-well (or triple well) to enable them to operate more efficiently with negative source bias.

0013While the die 10 has been explained in terms of an example where transistors are segregated based on gate oxide thicknesses and use the embedded wells, it will be appreciated that the different device types can be physically distributed among one another as well. Similarly, the relative sizes of the areas 12, 14, and 16 can be varied in accordance with specific needs.

0014As shown in Figure 2, the die 10 may receive two external supply voltages Vcc and Vss. The supply voltage Vcc may be 5 volts or less and the voltage Vss may be 0 volts. The supply voltages Vcc and Vss are boosted by boosters 74 and 76, respectively, to form the boosted voltages V_H and V_L. The boosted voltages V_H and V_L may be several times more positive than Vcc and more negative than Vss voltages. For example, V_H may be in the range of 4 to 12 volts while V_L may be in the range of -2 to -5 volts. Alternatively, the die 10 may receive all of Vcc, Vss, V_H and V_L from external voltage supplies.

0015The configuration of the transistors in the area 16 is illustrated in Figure 3. A device 28 is formed in an embedded P-well 18. The embedded P-well 18 is formed in an N-well 20 which is, in turn, defined within a P-type semiconductor substrate 22. P-well bias 23 may be applied through a P+ region 24, and N-well bias 25 may be applied through an N+ region 26. The transistor 28 includes a gate electrode 30 and a gate oxide 32 with an active region defined by field oxide areas 36.

0016The region 14 may include CMOS N- and P-channel transistors 38 and 40, as shown in Figure 4. The thick gate oxide N-channel transistor 38 may include a thick gate oxide 42 and a gate electrode 46. Similarly, the thick gate oxide P-channel transistor 40 includes a gate electrode 48 formed over a thick gate oxide 50, in turn defined over an N-well 52.

0017The transistor 38 may be formed without a P-well or with a light P-well 44 or a light P-well 44 embedded in N-well 45 so that it is a zero threshold transistor. By "zero threshold" it is intended to refer to transistors with relatively light P-wells, for example, less than 1 x 10¹⁶ atoms per square centimeter, or no P-well at all. Thus, the zero threshold transistor may have a small threshold voltage of from about .1 to -.3 volts.

0018Finally, the region 12 is populated by N- and P- channel transistors, such as the transistors 54 and 56, shown in Figure 4. The N-channel "regular" gate oxide transistor 54 includes a gate 58, a gate oxide 60, and a P-well 62. Likewise, the "regular" gate oxide P-channel transistor 56 includes a gate electrode 64, a gate oxide 66 and an N-well 68. The transistors 54 and 56 may be conventional in all respects. They are formed with gate oxides that are thinner than the gate oxides of the transistors 28, 38, and 40 formed in the area 14.

0019Referring now to Figure 5, the thick gate oxide N-channel transistor 38 may implement a transfer gate driven by an inverter 70. The inverter 70 may include a thick gate oxide P-channel transistor 28. The control signal 72 may be a boosted positive (V_H) or negative (V_L) signal which causes the inverter 70 to supply either the boosted positive potential V_H or the more negative potential V_L as the drive bias for the gate of the transistor 38.

0020The boosted voltages V_H or V_L may be formed by boosting positive (Vcc) and negative (Vss) supply voltages supplied to the die 10, using conventional charge boosting circuitry 74, 76. These boosted gate drive voltages increase the difference (V_GS - V_T), thereby decreasing the "on" resistance and increasing the saturation voltage of the transfer gate implemented by the transistor 38.

0021If the control signal 72 is V_H, the inverter 70 supplies the voltage V_L to the gate of the transistor 38. The transistor 38 is then "off'. When the control signal 72 is V_L, the high positive voltage V_H is applied to the gate of the transistor 38 and the transistor is "on". The transistor 38 can be turned off hard, because of the negative gate voltage.

0022A CMOS implementation of the transfer gate, shown in Figure 6, uses the same inverter 70 arrangement, but includes a parallel pair ofN-channel 38 and P-channel 40, thick gate oxide transistors. The gate of the P-channel transistor 40 is driven by the control signal 72.

0023While Figures 5 and 6 illustrate an inverter 70 controlling the potential on the gate of a pass transistor, it should be understood that a variety of other circuits can be used for this purpose.

0024The transfer gate "on" resistance for the linear region can typically be reduced by a factor of two to four depending on the gate bias. At the same time, the thicker gate oxide of the transfer gate allows more gate voltage to be applied to the transistor without creating reliability problems.

0025Thus, the term V_GS - V_T may be increased without causing gate oxide reliability problems. Typically, in 0.6 micron or less technologies, using 3 volts or less, the gate oxides 32, 42, and 50 may be 120 Angstroms or greater while the gate oxides 60 and 66 may be less than 100 Angstroms.

0026By providing an embedded P-well transistor 28, the N-well 20 may be tied to Vss or Vcc. This allows the P-well to be pumped negatively. This in turn allows the source of the transistor, situated in the P-well, to go negative. Therefore, a negative voltage may be applied to the source of the transistor 28 in the configuration shown in Figure 5. This enables the transistors 28 and 38 to shut off hard.

0027The negative gate drive also reduces the gate-to-N junction overlap capacitance and the junction capacitance. Because of the negative gate voltage, the channel and well doping concentrations can be reduced. Hence, one transistor 38 is situated in a "light" P-well 44. Typically, the P-well doping concentration may be reduced or eliminated. For example, well doping maybe reduced from a typical concentration of 1 x 10¹⁷ to 1 x 10¹⁶ atoms per square centimeter or less. This may achieve a substantial reduction in the junction capacitance of the transistor. The negative voltage also reduces the N-depletion capacitance in the N-region under the gate oxide typically by a factor of two to three. Furthermore, by embedding the transfer gate in a P-well, when the N-well is tied to Vss or Vcc, negative voltage can be applied to the P-well and the junction depletion region increases. This reduces the junction capacitance even further, for example, by a factor of 1.5.

0028The charge pump for creating the high and low voltages V_H and V_L can be implemented using standard charge pump designs. The reference "On Chip High Voltage Generation and MOS Integrated Circuits Using an Improved Voltage Multiplier Technique", <u>IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits,</u> Vol. SC-11, No. 3, June 1976, discloses one useful design for creating the high voltage charge pump and is hereby expressly incorporated herein. Similarly, the provision of both a positive or negative boosted voltage can be accomplished as taught in L.A. Glasser and D. W. Dobberpuhl, <u>The Design and Analysis of VLSI Circuits</u> (December 1985) published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co, pages 301-329, which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

0029Ideally, the boosted voltage V_H is set to the highest possible voltage before any long term gate oxide reliability problems occur. This reduced the "on" state resistance of the pass or transfer gate. The voltage V_L is set at a low voltage such that the N-junction capacitance can be reduced. Typically V_L is - 1.5 to - 2.0v.

0030The thickness of the thick gate oxides for the transistors 28, 38 and 40 can be determined by first determining the maximum voltage level that needs to be transferred by the transfer gate 38. Normally this transfer voltage is equal to Vcc. The transistor saturation voltage, "V_DSAT", is set such that V_DSAT is greater than or approximately equal to the transfer voltage. Thus, the transistor always operates in the linear region. Using the following equation, the term "V_GS - V_T" can be determined:<maths id="math0001"><math display="block"><mrow><msub><mrow><mtext>V</mtext></mrow><mrow><mtext>DSAT</mtext></mrow></msub><mtext> = A + B -</mtext><msqrt><msup><mrow><mtext>A</mtext></mrow><mrow><mtext>2</mtext></mrow></msup><msup><mrow><mtext> + B</mtext></mrow><mrow><mtext>2</mtext></mrow></msup></msqrt></mrow></math><img file="EP1233451A2_D0001.tif" /></maths> Where: <dl id="dl0001"><dt>A =</dt><dd>(V_GS - V_T)/(1 + δ );</dd><dt>B =</dt><dd>(V_MAXL/µ</dd><dt>V_T =</dt><dd>the transistor threshold voltage</dd><dt>L =</dt><dd>channel length</dd><dt>µ =</dt><dd>mobility and</dd><dt>V_MAX =</dt><dd>maximum carrier velocity</dd></dl> (~ 10⁷ cm./s).<maths id="math0002"><math display="block"><mrow><mtext>δ = </mtext><mfrac><mrow><mtext>γ</mtext></mrow><mrow><mtext>2</mtext><msqrt><mtext mathvariant="italic">VsB</mtext><msub><mrow><mtext> + 2φ</mtext></mrow><mrow><mtext mathvariant="italic">FP</mtext></mrow></msub></msqrt></mrow></mfrac></mrow></math><img file="EP1233451A2_D0002.tif" /></maths><maths id="math0003"><math display="block"><mrow><mtext>γ = </mtext><mfrac><mrow><msqrt><msub><mrow><mtext>2ε</mtext></mrow><mrow><mtext>si</mtext></mrow></msub><mtext mathvariant="italic">qNa</mtext></msqrt></mrow><mrow><mtext mathvariant="italic">Cox</mtext></mrow></mfrac></mrow></math><img file="EP1233451A2_D0003.tif" /></maths> Where: <dl id="dl0002"><dt>V_SB =</dt><dd>source to bulk potential</dd><dt>Φ_FP =</dt><dd>potential at inversion surface</dd><dt>ε_si =</dt><dd>silicon dielectric constant</dd><dt>Na =</dt><dd>bulk doping concentration</dd><dt>Cox =</dt><dd>oxide thickness</dd><dt>q =</dt><dd>electron charge</dd></dl>

0031The oxide thickness Cox is generally greater than or approximately equal to (V_GS - V_T) divided by the electric field (ε) or about 4 to about 5 megavolts per centimeter. Thus, for a 3-volt transfer voltage, V_GS - V_T is approximately 6 to 8 volts and Cox would be about 150 to 200 Angstroms with a channel length of from about 0.6 to 0.8 microns.

0032A few examples may help to appreciate the impact of embodiments of the present invention. Using a thicker gate oxide thickness of 150 Angstroms and a channel length of .6 microns, the quantity V_GS - V_T is approximately 6 volts. The transistor current at a V_DSAT of 3 volts results in a drain current of about 750 microamps per micron at 3 volts. The drain current is about 633 microamps per micron at 2 volts.

0033This can be contrasted with a conventional technology which would have a gate oxide thickness of about 100 Angstroms, a gate length of about half a micron using 3-volt technology. The transistor current at a V_DSAT equal to 3 volts is approximately 330 microamps per micron. It is evident that the thick gate oxide enables a significantly greater drive current.

0034Similarly, with a 2-volt technology using a gate oxide thickness of 70 Angstroms and a gate length of .35 microns, the drain current would be approximately 250 microamps per micron. Thus, it is evident that decreasing gate lengths and decreasing gate voltages have a dramatically adverse effect on drain current. This necessarily has a severe impact on speed.

0035Thus, it can be seen that at supply voltages of 3 volts and less, device scaling can result in slower devices. The present invention allows for significantly increased transistor speeds at significantly scaled geometries and with significantly scaled supply voltages.

0036The illustrative parameters set forth herein contemplate a 0.35µm or higher feature size with Vcc potentials of 2.7 volts or higher. As the technology permits lowering voltages and smaller feature sizes, the parameters herein would scale accordingly.

0037The starting substrate is typically P-type (100) silicon, for example having a resistivity range of 10-25 ohm-cm. The P-well 18 is embedded in an N-well 20 in the so-called triple well process. The P-well has a typical well depth of, for example, 2 to 4µm with an average doping concentration, for example, In the range of 5 x 10¹⁵ to 5 x 10¹⁶ atoms per cubic centimeter.

0038The N-well has a typical well depth of, for example, 4-8µm. The doping concentration may be from 4 x 10¹⁵ to 1 x 10¹⁶ atoms per cubic centimeter. The triple well is formed by the P-well 18 counterdoping the N-well 20.

0039The formation of the elements in the triple well may be as follows in one embodiment. An N-well implant is done, for example, with phosphorous (P₃₁) with a typical dose of 1.0 to 1.5 x 10¹³ atoms per square centimeter and energies from 160Kev to about 100 Kev. The N-well implant is driven using a high temperature step which may typically be 6 to 12 hours at 1125 to 1150° C. The N-well 20 is then counterdoped with a P-well implant. Typical dosages for the P-well implant may be 1.5 to 2.5 x 10¹³ atoms per square centimeter with energies of 30Kev to 180Kev using a species such as boron (B11).

0040The N-well 20 and P-well 18 are then driven, typically 6 to 10 hours at 1125 to 1150° C. This sets the wells to the desired doping concentrations and depths.

0041After well formation, standard logic field oxide formation and channel stop formation steps are applied. The field oxide 36 and implant doses are adjusted to achieve a field threshold of 7 to 14 volts, which is determined by the V_H level of the booster pump 74.

0042After removal of sacrificial oxide, the thick gate oxides 42, 50 and the thin gate oxides 60, 66 are formed. For example, a 100 Angstrom oxide may be grown across the wafer followed by threshold adjustment implants. Afterward, resist is applied. The resist may cover everything except the thin oxide areas 60 and 66. A buffered oxide etch (BOE) is used to etch off the oxide in the region that is not covered by resist. After resist removal, an oxide is grown to a thickness, for example 100 Angstroms, to form the thin oxides 60 and 66. The rest of the wafer uses gate oxides 42 and 50 with a typical thickness of 160 Angstroms. Standard gate deposition, patterning and back end processing follows the standard logic process. This forms transistors with two gate oxide thicknesses.

0043Referring now to Figure 7, a radio frequency device 74 includes an antenna 76 coupled to a power amplifier 78. The antenna 76 may be a separate unit or may be integrated into the integrated circuit 74. The power amplifier 78 is coupled to a splitter 80 which may be coupled to a radio frequency receiver section 82 and a speaker 84 or a transmitter section 86 and a microphone 88.

0044One or both of the receiver section 82 and transmitter section 86 may include logic devices which advantageously are made with the latest high frequency processing technology. As a result, these devices operate at high switching speeds and exhibit high switching speed performance. This may improve the speed of operation of various functions involving logical operations.

0045If the power amplifier 78 is integrated with those logic circuits, the power amplifier may have relatively limited output power performance because the high frequency transistors generally must use lower supply voltages. These lower supply voltages limit the output power available from the power amplifier 78.

0046This problem may be overcome by using the thick gate transistors 38 or 40 in connection with the power amplifier 78 and using the thin gate transistors 54 and 56 in connection with the logic circuits in the receiver section 82 and transmitter section 86.

0047However, by forming the power amplifier 78 with relatively thick gate oxides, a higher supply potential may be provided for those transistors improving their output power performance. Thus, two different gate voltage levels may be utilized, a lower one for the regular gate transistors 54 and 56 and a higher level may be utilized for the thicker gate transistors 38 and 40. This higher voltage level for the transistors 38 and 40 enables the output power from the amplifier 78 to be increased relative to what it would have been using the latest transistor technologies with reduced supply voltages.

0048As a result, radio frequency devices 74 may be made that exhibit high transistor switching speed and high performance logic circuit sections. At the same time, relatively high output power levels may be achieved as well. In some cases, this may facilitate the integration of radio frequency and logic components including processors and the like on the same integrated circuit.

0049While the present invention has been described with respect to a single preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will appreciate a number of modifications and variations, and it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations which fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.