Fundamentals of Next Generation Compact MOSFET Models

It has recently become clear that the electronics industry is turning away from source-referenced, threshold voltage based MOSFET models. The two main approaches as candidates to replace BSIM-type models are inversion-charge and surface-potential models. This paper provides an overview of the basic physics that must be modeled to build a compact model for the MOSFET and compares the two approaches taken by the developers of next generation models.