Evidence for reduction of noise and radiation effects in G/sup 4/-FET depletion-all-around operation

The low noise and radiation-hard operation of the SOI four-gate transistor (G/sup 4/-FET) is experimentally demonstrated. When operated in depletion-all-around (DAA) mode, the G/sup 4/-FET drain current flows in the middle of the silicon film, far from the interfaces. The influence of oxide and interface traps on the conduction channel is suppressed by biasing the front and back gates in depletion or, even better, in inversion. Systematic data show a significant reduction of low-frequency noise as well as a quasi-insensitivity to total-dose radiation effects, up to 10 Mrad. These features come along with superior static characteristics in DAA mode and are attractive for G/sup 4/-FET-based analog circuits.