Harmonic distortion analysis of double gate graded-channel MOSFETs operating in saturation

In this work we present an analysis of harmonic distortion (HD) in graded-channel (GC) gate-all-around (GAA) devices operating in saturation region for analog applications. The study has been performed through device characterization and two-dimensional process and device simulations. The overall study has been done on the total and third order HDs. When applied in the saturation regime as an amplifier, the GC outperforms conventional GAA transistors presenting simultaneously higher transconductance, lower drain output conductance and more than 15 dB improved linearity. The influence of channel length reduction on the HD is also analyzed. Although slight linearity degradation is observed in both the conventional and the GC devices when reducing the channel length, the HD presented by the GC transistor is significantly lower than the one showed by conventional device for any studied channel length. This allows AC input signal amplitude up to 20 times higher than the conventional GAA for a same specified distortion level.