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Standard-cell design, technology choices, and place and route (P&R) efficiency are deeply interrelated in CMOS technology nodes below 10 nm, where lower number of tracks cells and higher pin densities pose increasingly challenging problems to the router in terms of congestion and pin accessibility. To evaluate and downselect the best solutions, a holistic design-technology co-optimization approach leveraging state-of-theart P&R tools is thus necessary. We adopt such an approach using the imec N7 technology platform, with contacted poly pitch of 42 nm and tightest metal pitch of 32 nm, by comparing post P&R area of an IP block for different standard cell configurations, technology options, and cell height. Keeping the technology node and the set of ground rules unchanged, we demonstrate that a careful combination of these solutions can enable area gains of up to 50%, comparable with the area benefits of migrating to another node. We further demonstrate that these area benefits can be achieved at isoperformance with >20% reduced power. As at the end of the CMOS roadmap, conventional scaling enacted through pitch reduction is made more and more challenging by constraints imposed by lithography limits, material resistivity, manufacturability, and ultimately wafer cost, the approach shown herein offers a valid, attractive, and low-cost alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we compare the performances of FinFETs, lateral gate-all-around (GAA) FETs, and vertical GAAFETs (VFETs) at 7-nm node dimensions and beyond. Comparison is done at ring oscillator level accounting not only for front-end of line devices but also for interconnects. It is demonstrated that FinFETs fail to maintain the performance at scaled dimensions, while VFETs demonstrate good scalability and eventually outperform lateral devices both in speed and power consumption. Lateral GAAFETs show better scalability with respect to FinFETs but still consume 35% more energy per switch than VFETs if made under 5-nm node design rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suspended gate field-effect transistors (SG-FETs) with switching gates are interesting as digital logic switches because of their high Ion/Ioff current ratio and their infinite sub-threshold slope. However, the limits of scalability of the SG-FETs are still unclear. This paper investigates two effects that could limit scaling: the dielectric charging and the dielectric roughness. To do so, a surface-potential-based model for suspended gate transistors with a mechanically switching gate is presented and validated using experimental data. Devices fabricated in a standard complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor process are used for the model assessment. The model reproduces the effect of a fixed charge and the effect of a nonideal contact of the gate after pull-in. We show that, at the device dimensions required to follow the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, these effects will be critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]