I have one question…you designed all of your circuits for nominal process variations. Can we get a

netlist for same 50 nm process for slow and fast corners? Please guide me on how to design a circuit

so that it will give good results in all the corners. Should I plot the table like you plotted in chapter

9 for each process corner? If so then which current should I take to start of my design as it will give

different drain currents, gm, and fT for the same W/L? How should I proceed?

 

(I think that was more than one question ;-)

 

Yes, you have to design for nominal since that centers your design. You don't design at the corners

because then the design performance is worse at the opposite corner. Simulations are used to verify

that your design meets specs with process variations. No need for new tables or hand calculations

since, again, you design for nominal conditions and verify, via simulations, that the design meets the

requirements. If the design has issues you look for the problem and attempt to fix it. The models used

in the book are not from any real process but they are representative of real CMOS technology. You

can generate all kinds of different models (slow, fast, etc.) by going to http://ptm.asu.edu/ . You can

also get corner models for some processes at MOSIS (see left menu item for Test Data).

 

If you really want corner models for the 50 nm models from the book the DVT1 in the BSIM4 parameter 

can be skewed for a hack. Do not mess with TOX since it's tied to too many other model parameters. 

NSH and NSD could be used if you had knowledge about additional IDS variation above and beyond 

what you might get from VT shifts. I’d stick with a simplistic DVT1 skew for a hack. A 20 mV sigma 

(± 60 mV at 3σ) is a decent starting point for typical performance. 12-15 mV would be the low end of the 

die-to-die variation expectations for a 50 nm device.  

 

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