Insight into the relationship between hot electron degradation and substrate current in sub-0.1 mu m technologies

This paper investigates the relationship between hot electron degradation ( HED) and substrate current (I-B) by comparing experimental data of 0.1 mum technology devices and Monte Carlo simulation in the low voltage regime. De spite the reduction of the maximum applied voltage below the damage creatio n energy threshold (E-TH), the experimental data shown here indicate that i n sub-0.1 mum technologies operating at low voltage HED lifetime (tau) and I-B are still related by the usual power law relation with an exponent of - 3, also found when the applied voltage was well above E-TH. With the help o f simulation we show that this power law relation holds true even at low vo ltage because of the effect of electron-electron scattering on the carrier distribution and the high value of E-TH. It is then concluded that the usua l extrapolation technique of HED lifetime as a function of I-B to low volta ge is accurate enough for practical purposes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.