Operation and Modeling of the MOS Transistor

Many advanced aspects of MOSFET behavior are covered, especially the operation and modeling of small-signal and high frequency behavior. Short and narrow channel effects are discussed in detail, as is the operation of devices with nonuniformly (vertically) doped channels. There is a substantial treatment of small-signal modeling, both conductance and capacitance (something that tends to get overlooked), that provides the definitive treatment of this topic. Plus a treatment of the transient operation of MOSFETs that is the definitive description. When I first read this (in the 1st. edition, over 10 years ago), it became crystal clear to me how charges and terminal currents should be viewed in MOSFETs under transient operation.

This text is perfect both for teaching and for practicing professionals. The clear and precise descriptions are of most importance for students, and the incredible amount of detailed, useful, and up-to-date information are a goldmine of information for microelectronic engineers. Even seasoned veterans can learn, and have their understanding of MOSFETs improved, by reading this book.

There are many poor (or worse!) MOSFET models that have been published to date. Many of those would not have seen the light of day if their authors had been properly educated by reading this book. This book should, I believe, be required reading for anyone working with MOSFETs, and that pretty much applies to anyone in the microelectronics industry today.

Professor Tsividis brings two key and unique advantages to the understanding of MOSFET behavior. The first is his succint and cogent prose that does not include imprecise and muddy ideas: he definitively points out many of the loose concepts that generally go unquestioned, for example the sacrosanct but equivocal threshold voltage. The second is key to the imprtance of this book: Professor Tsividis is an expert analog designer. Most engineers that work in the field of MOSFET modeling come from a device physics background. They understand at a high level how a MOSFET operates physically. But in practice it is CMOS circuits that are important, therefore the "customer" (design) perspective is what Professor Tsividis brings to the party. (E.g. witness the many problems with modeling output resistance for MOSFETs in many previous models - the "device" oriented modelers did not understand the importance of conductance, as opposed to current, for real circuits). The design expertise and viewpoint is a key differentiator between this and other books.

There have been substantial additions and improvements since the first edition. The "rational" units never were widely accepted, so the 2nd. edition reverts to more usual units (and symbols) that make it easier to read. And of course the advances of the past decade have been incorporated. The number of references in the book is truly staggering.

My only concern is that my copy of the first edition has been well trained over the past decade to fall open at the best pages (of which there are many). I wish that could be transferred to my copies (I already have 2) of the 2nd. edition, but I guess I will have to train them myself.

What a pleasant thought!


Excellent addition to your library   November 25, 1999
Kurt Rasmussen (Torrance, CA United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I don't usually write reviews unless the book is either very poor or very good. This is one of the best books on my shelf. If you want to know the MOS transistor this is the book. Well researched, excellent explanations, excellent appendices. Other authors of technical books should use this as an example of how to write a good technical book.


Excellent! Remarkable.   October 24, 1999
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Just reading the Preface to this book, I fell in love with the author. I completely agree that sometimes the most rigorous and careful treatment of a subject actually makes it possible to study the material faster!! What always frustrated me and slowed me down in reading other books was the sloppiness and hand waving. It's amazing that many Ph.Ds and even authors of famous books like Uyemura's "Fundamentals of MOS ICs" don't understand the simple body effect, and talk about complete nonsense showing a 2 terminal capacitor with Vb applied to the bulk, and saying that the Vt will now change by the sqrt(Vb) body effect. They don't understand that the body effect is a 3 terminal effect and in 2 terminals if you apply Vb to bulk then your Vt will have to increase by Vb--NOT sqrt(Vb)!!! This book is a delight. Just the material on contact potentials was worth the money.

If you are serious about really understanding MOSFETs, if you hate non-sense and hand waving, then this book is for you.


Just a masterpiece........   October 5, 2001
varun kumar verma (San diego,CA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I am a graduate student with main area of interest in Mixed mode design,testing and device modelling.This book was suggested to me by my proffessor.It is the book for MOSFET.I have read many books on this topic like Tyagi,Foty,massobrio etc but this books stands apart.It is a very well written book.Its progress is very logical going from two terminal device to four terminal device with very good explanation of the physics.More importantly the emphasis on the approximations made makes things clearer.....

For a person working with Mosfets it is a must......


Excellent book   January 7, 2003
Shoki Smith (MIT)
Very good book, very neat and clean description, easy to understand, very informative and technical yet easy to understand.