Experimental study of the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling induced degradation of LDD PMOSFET's

Abstract

We present experimental work on the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling induced degradation of the submicron LDD PMOSFET's. Effects of polysilicon gate oxidation conditions and the stress polarity are investigated. PMOSFET's degrade excessively under the negative gate-to-drain bias stress. The devices with the graded-gate-oxide structures are more resistant to the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling stress, which is consistent with the hot carrier induced degradation of the LDD PMOSFET's.