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Subthreshold Operation in MOSFETs
Vidisha Verma, 2015189
Abstract—This paper briefly explains the regions of operations
of the MOSFET relating to the gate voltage appied. then we
describe the subthreshold region and explain how we can obtain
lower power consumption while applying voltage approximately
equal to the threshold voltage.
Keywords—Transistors, MOSFETs, Regions of operation, Sub-
threshold region, Ultra-low power consumption.
I. I NTRODUCTION
In 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain built the first
functioning transistor at the Bell Laboratories - they called
it the transistor as it is a resistor that can transfer amplified
signals. Years of improvement lead to building chips having
billions of transistors. MOSFETs - or Metal Oxide Semi-
conductor Field Effect Transistors - as they offer zero control
current while idle.
In 1965, Gordon Moore found that the transistor count on a
chip doubled every 18 months (1.5 years), which is proved by
Intel though with a span of 26 months (∼2years). However,
Figure 1. Transistors in Intel microprocessors [Intel10].
with the increase in the number of transistors, many other
factors were also effected (voltage, power, clock speed, etc.).
Figure 2 shows the decrease in size of the transistors. The
Figure 2. Process generations. Future predictions from [SIA2007].
integrated circuits today are well known as VLSI or Very
Large-Scale Integration.
With the increase in transistors there is a need to reduce
power. We do know (from our high school physics) power
is a product of voltage and current. So to reduce power we
require to reduce one or both of these values. The subthreshold
region of the MOSFET can be used to obtain ultra-low power
consumption.
II. MOSFET S
MOSFETs are a combination of 2 types of MOS: pMOS
and nMOS. pMOS is a semiconductor doped with elements of
Group III (example: boron) creating free positive ions or holes,
while nMOS is doped with elements of Group V (example:
arsenic) creating free electrons. These MOS have each have 4
terminals: source, gate, drain and bulk (or body). Figure 3(a)
and 3(b) shows the structure of the nMOS and pMOS.
Figure 3. (a)nMOS device; (b)pMOS device.
Figure 4. Structure of MOS device.
Figure 4 show the structure of a nMOS. The device consists
of two n-doped regions, fabricated in the p-substrate forming
the drain and the source terminals; a heavily-doped piece of
polysilicon (or poly - early metal was used) operating as the
gate, and a thin layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2 ) insulating the
gate from the substrate.

III. R EGIONS OF O PERATION
MOSFETs have three regions of operations when it enters
the inversion stage [Figure 5]: cutoff, linear and saturation.
Each region is activated depending on the drain-to-source
Figure 5. Inversion Stage.
voltage (VDS =VD -VS ), the gate-to-source voltage (VGS =VG -
VS ) applied and the threshold voltage (VTH ) of the MOSFET.
Threshold voltage is the minimum voltage that is needed
to create a conducting path between the source and drain
terminals.
A. Cutoff
As the name suggests, the cutoff region is when the voltage
is too low to switch on the transistor, i.e. VGS ¡ VTH . No current
flow in the transistor.
Figure 6. Cutoff Mode
B. Linear(Triode and Deep Triode)
As the voltage appied at the gate is increased and
just exceeds the threshold voltage, the transistor enter
the linear region. If VDS VGS - VTH , we say the de-
vice operates in the triode region. If VDS  2(V GS −
V TH ), thedeviceoperatesindeeptrioderegion.
C. Saturation
When we increase the voltage even more we reach the
saturation region of the transistor, i.e. when VDS ¿ VGS - VTH .
As the name suggest, this is the limit to the amount of voltage
that can be applied to the gate.
Figure 9 shows the I-V characteristics depicting the regions
of operation.
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Figure 7. Linear Mode - (a)Deep Triode Region; (b)Triode Region
Figure 8. Saturation Mode
IV. S UBTHRESHOLD C ONDUCTION
In our analysis of the MOSFET, we have
assume that the device turns off abrubtly as
VGS drops below VTH . In reality for VGS ≈
V TH , weakinversionlayerstillexistsandsomecurrentf lowsf romDto
V TH , draincurrentI D isf inite, butitexibitsanexponentialdependence
200M W.W ealsosaythatthedeviceoperatesinweakinversion.
V. U LTRA - LOW P OWER C ONSUMPTION
As we can see in the subthreshold mode of the MOSFET,
we require very little voltage to operate the MOSFET while it
output enough amount of drain current. This leads us back to
the equation of power, which is P=VI, implying that power is
reduced when in the subthreshold region.
Many other factors are taken into consideration and are still
been worked on. there is still a need to reduce more power
while reducing other effects such as leakage current and noise.
Therefore, ultra-low power consumption can be achieved in the
near future.
VI. C ONCLUSION
In this paper, we have understood briefly about the operating
regions of the MOSFET. Then, with our focus on gate voltage,
we see that the subthreshold region leads to requirement of the
less voltage and btaining more current. other factors can also
be considered and require deep knowlegde of factors like noise,
leakage current and second order effects.
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Figure 9. I-V Characteristics

Figure 10. MOS Subthreshold Characteristics

R EFERENCES
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