Universal Hot Carrier Degradation Model under DC and AC Stresses

In this study, the impact of the self-heating effect (SHE) on the activation energy of hot-carrier injection (HCI) has been studied in n-FinFETs by correcting the channel temperature under different stress patterns. We also experimentally investigated why stress patterns with a shorter pulse width pstress result in a longer device lifetime. In addition to the inevitable SH, time-resolved particle behavior also plays an important role. Based on experimental data and the multiple vibrational excitation theory, a universal model is proposed covering HCI degradation under both DC and AC stress patterns with pstress down to 1 ns.