Oxide-field dependence of the NMOS hot-carrier degradation rate and its impact on AC-lifetime prediction

This study presents a general relationship between the NMOS hot-carrier degradation rate n and the oxide-electric field at the drain E/sub ox/, which is valid over a wide range of stress-bias conditions and device parameters. Physical mechanisms for this oxide-field dependence are explored. It is also shown that failure to account for the oxide-field dependence of n and the inherent non-linearity of the degradation time dependence can result in significant overestimation of the predicted AC lifetime.