The energy driven paradigm of NMOSFET hot carrier effects

As NMOSFET size and voltage are scaled down, the electron energy distribution becomes increasingly dependent only on the applied bias, because of quasi-ballistic transport over the high field region. A new paradigm of NMOSFET hot carrier behavior is proposed here, in which the fundamental driving force is available energy, rather than peak lateral electric field as it is in the lucky electron model (LEM.) This approach allows an experimental determination of S/sub IT/ (the interface state generation cross section) as a function of electron energy.