Physics-Based Device-Circuit Cooptimization Scheme for 7-nm Technology Node SRAM Design and Beyond

This article presents a comprehensive assessment on the 6T static random access memory (SRAM) cell with 7-nm FinFET technology by implementing quantum physics-based device-circuit cooptimization. Seven key device design parameters and their multiple impacts on a 6T SRAM cell are systematically evaluated, focusing on materials band engineering, device design, circuit parameters tradeoff, and variation control. The area of SRAM cell under the same Fin quantization scheme remains constant in all evaluations. To the best of our knowledge, the most comprehensive discussion about circuit optimization from multiple device design parameters perspective is presented. Based on our cooptimization scheme, a SRAM cell is effectively designed. For a low-power and robust SRAM cell design, we achieve 56.7% reduction in leakage, 7.9% improvement in hold noise margin (HNM), 8.6% improvement in read noise margin (RNM), and 10.8% improvement in write margin (WM) at the expense of 19.3% increase in delay under design space of gate length (Lg) and spacer thickness (TSPC). For a high-speed SRAM cell design, we recommend focusing on the optimization of architecture and peripheral circuits. This framework not only has the advantages of easy implementation, technology-friendly, and high accuracy, but also suitable for path-finding researches on 5-nm node and beyond.