Improved Self-Curing Effect in a MOSFET with Gate Biasing

Abstract

Stress-induced damage in a MOSFET can be cured by Joule heating, which can be produced by an intentional forward junction current (IFWD). This curing effect can be further enhanced by the simultaneous application of gate biasing, which does not influence the IFWD. A MOSFET was intentionally degraded by harsh hot-carrier injection (HCI) then the damage was cured and nearly returned to its pristine state. The improved self-curing effect was quantitatively verified using low-frequency noise (LFN) analyses. Self-curing by internal heat from the IFWD more effectively cured the HCI damage than a nonself-curing using external heat from a hot chuck.