Hot carrier degradation of the low frequency noise of MOS transistors under analog operating conditions

The hot carrier degradation of the 1/f noise behaviour of n- and p-MOS transistors under typical analog CMOS operating conditions is investigated. Contrary to previous results, it is shown that the noise magnitude in saturation mode in short channel devices significantly increases after hot carrier degradation. In low noise circuits, this increase can become a major reliability issue. In this paper, the mechanisms responsible for this degradation effect and the resulting analog circuit design considerations are discussed.