【Semiconductor】🔷 02. FinFET Structure

— Restoring Electric-Field Control Through Geometry

topics: [“FinFET”, “MOSFET”, “Device Structure”]

🧭 Background of FinFET Emergence

The continued scaling of planar MOSFETs eventually stalled due to
electric-field control limitations caused by Short Channel Effects (SCE).

The structure introduced to address this problem was the FinFET.

The key point is that FinFET was not developed primarily for
“higher integration through three-dimensionality,” but rather:

To increase the gate’s enclosure of the channel
and restore electric-field control

This motivation is often misunderstood but is central to the FinFET concept.

⚡ The Essence of FinFET: Electric-Field Redistribution by Geometry

The defining feature of FinFET is that
the channel transitions from a planar surface to a vertical fin structure.

As a result:

The gate controls not only the top surface
But also both sidewalls of the channel

Consequently,
the gate electric field envelops the channel from three directions,
greatly suppressing the influence of the drain electric field.

🧱 Structural Comparison (Planar vs FinFET)

The differences between planar MOSFETs and FinFETs can be summarized as follows.

🔹 Planar MOSFET

Channel: planar surface on the substrate
Gate control: from the top only
Drain electric field: intrudes laterally
SCE: severe

🔹 FinFET

Channel: raised vertical “fin”
Gate control: top + left + right (three sides)
Drain electric field: shielded by side gates
SCE: significantly suppressed

At this point, device performance began to improve:

Not through process refinement, but directly through structure itself

🔒 Why SCE Is Suppressed in FinFETs

The fundamental cause of SCE is:

Electrodes other than the gate (primarily the drain)
gaining control over the channel potential

In FinFETs:

Side gates constrain the channel potential distribution
Drain electric fields struggle to reach the channel center
The source-side potential barrier becomes more stable

This is not a marginal numerical improvement, but a qualitative shift:

Control of the electric field is taken back from the drain and returned to the gate

🔁 Not “Scaled Further,” but “Made Controllable Again”

What FinFET enabled was not simply:

Shorter gate lengths
but rather
An electric-field structure that remains stable even at short lengths

In other words:

FinFET did not “advance” scaling,
but re-established scaling that had already collapsed

🛠 Shift in Design Perspective

From the FinFET generation onward,
the primary focus of device design clearly changed.

🔹 Planar Era

Dominant parameters: dimensions (L, tox, W)
Forced tuning via materials and heavy doping

🔹 FinFET Era

Fin height, fin width, fin pitch
Gate enclosure ratio
Electric-field distribution itself

This marks the true beginning of the era where:

“Geometry equals electrical characteristics”

🚧 FinFET Is Not the Final Answer

Despite its advantages, FinFET is not a universal solution.

Excessively narrow fins introduce strong quantum effects
Variability in fin height becomes difficult to control
Gate enclosure is incomplete (limited to three sides)

Extending beyond these limitations leads naturally to:

Gate-All-Around (GAA)
Nanosheet / nanowire devices
Ultimately, CFET

📝 Summary

✅ The essence of FinFET is the restoration of electric-field control
✅ Increased gate enclosure structurally suppresses SCE
✅ It did not merely “enable scaling,” but returned scaling to a controllable regime
✅ Device design shifted from “dimensions” to “structure”

FinFET was not a life-extension of planar MOSFETs, but rather:

The physically correct next step, grounded in device physics

📘 Edusemi-v4x | Advanced Node Technologies (FinFET, GAA, CFET)

GitHub Pages (Public Educational Material, Japanese)
https://samizo-aitl.github.io/Edusemi-v4x/f_chapter1_finfet_gaa/
GitHub (Source Management, Markdown Manuscripts)
https://github.com/Samizo-AITL/Edusemi-v4x/tree/main/f_chapter1_finfet_gaa

Planar MOSFET → FinFET → GAA → CFET
This article corresponds to Special Chapter 1,
which systematically explains the evolution of electric-field control structures.