Hot hole gate current in surface channel PMOSFETs

This paper reports the observation of a new hot hole component of the gate current of p(+)-poly gate pMOS transistors. The phenomenon is characterized as a function of drain, gate, and substrate bias on devices featuring diff erent oxide thickness and drain engineering options. The new hole gate curr ent component is ascribed to injection into the oxide of substrate tertiary holes, generated by an impact ionization feedback mechanism similar to tha t responsible of CHannel Initiated Secondary ELectron injection (CHISEL) in nMOSFETs.