Hot-electron effects in MOSFETs

The physics of several hot-electron currents and their impact on IC performance and reliability is reviewed,
V_{d} - V_{dsat}
is emphasized as the driving force of all hot-electron effects.
V_{g}, V_{sub}
, and
L
affect the hot-electron effects only through their influence on V
dsat
. A simple hot-electron sealing rule is to scale
V_{d}, V_{t}
, and
\sqrt{x_{ox}x_{j}}
in proportion to
L
. Several proposed structural changes should provide considerable relief to the hot-electron problem.