Shared Drain Transistor Structure for Compact Semiconductor Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional semiconductor structures with coupled transistors consume a large amount of space due to duplicative drain structures, hindering further reduction in size and cost of electronic devices.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor structure is developed where transistors share a single drain terminal, reducing duplicative structures and allowing for varying dimensions and voltage configurations, enabling multiple transistors to operate with different voltage requirements while occupying less space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional transistor structures with separate drain terminals are used, then each transistor can operate independently with its own drain, but the overall device consumes a large amount of space due to duplicative drain structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the drain structures of multiple transistors into a single shared drain terminal. Instead of providing separate drain terminals for each transistor, the invention combines them so that multiple transistors share a common drain structure, thereby reducing the total substrate area occupied by duplicative drain components while maintaining independent transistor operation through separate source and gate terminals.
2Area of stationary object
If a shared drain structure is used to reduce substrate space, then device size is reduced, but the ability to provide independent drain connections for each transistor is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The shared drain structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as the drain terminal for multiple different transistors, enabling space reduction while maintaining circuit functionality. The single drain structure is designed to accommodate multiple transistor connections, providing universal connectivity that replaces multiple individual drain terminals without sacrificing adaptability.
3Ease of manufacture
If duplicative drain structures are eliminated to reduce device size, then manufacturing cost decreases, but the conventional template-based manufacturing approach becomes less applicable
Solution Approach 1:
The transistor structure is segmented into distinct functional components: shared drain, individual sources, individual gates, and isolated bodies. This segmentation allows the complex shared drain structure to be manufactured using standard semiconductor fabrication processes by treating each segment separately during formation, thereby reducing manufacturing cost while managing structural complexity through modular design.
Data Source
AI summary
Transistors may be manufactured with a shared drain to reduce die area consumed by circuitry. In one example, two transistors can be manufactured that include two body regions that abut a shared drain region. The two transistors can be independently operated by coupling terminals to a source and a gate for each transistor and the shared drain. Characteristics of the two transistors can be controlled by adjusting feature sizes, such as overlap between the gate and the shared drain for a transistor. In particular, two transistors with different voltage requirements can be manufactured using a shared drain structure, which can be useful in amplifier circuitry and in particular Class-D amplifiers.