Experimental determination of magnitude of selfheating and its influence on breakdown in silicon-on-insulator transistors

When silicon-on-insulator transistors are operated at high power levels significant selfheating is known to occur. The associated increase in the operating temperature can result in a change in the breakdown voltage through the temperature dependence of the multiplication process. Here, the maximum temperature rise, which occurs in the drain depletion region, is measured by monitoring the thermally generated leakage current. The dependence of the multiplication process on temperature is also measured. The work demonstrates that device selfheating together with the temperature dependence of the multiplication process must be accounted for if drain current/drain voltage breakdown is to be accurately predicted.