The dependence of hot carrier degradation on AC stress waveforms

The hot carrier degradation of submicron n-channel FETs is characterized for various gate and drain pulse waveforms. The results are consistent with interface electron traps generated by hot holes. The results showed that inverters with small loads can degrade faster than inverters with large loads, due to AC degradation effects. Device lifetime in circuits cannot in general be projected by DC data. The AC effect was also found to be dependent on device structure.<>