Performance of Source Follower Buffers Implemented with Standard and Strained Triple-Gate nFinFETs

Abstract

In this work the application of standard and strained triple-gate FinFETs in unity-gain source-follower configuration is compared. The analysis is performed by evaluating the buffer voltage gain with respect to the fin width and channel length as well as the total harmonic distortion. It is demonstrated that the application of strained material in narrow FinFETs, when the devices are operating in double-gate mode, can be beneficial for the performance of buffers in any channel length. On the other hand, for triple-gate FinFETs or quasi-planar ones the degradation of the output conductance overcomes the transconductance improvements from strained material and the performance of standard buffers is better than of strained ones. Narrow strained buffers also offer better harmonic distortion.