Current status of hot carrier effects in SOI MOSFET´s

Hot carrier effects have been a serious reliability concern in MOSFETs ever since the recognition in the mid-seventies that they can significantly degrade the device characteristics during normal operation. Continuing reduction of device dimensions and increase in channel doping, to achieve higher chip density and speed, is making these reliability concerns only worse, because of the increasing electric fields. The problems have been (and continue to be) vigorously researched, and although some open questions remain, substantial progress has been made in: 1) establishing suitable device degradation monitors, 2) understanding the physical mechanisms involved and 3) developing technologies and designs to suppress these mechanisms. Due to the rapidly growing interest in SOI technologies for high speed and low power applications, efforts to study the hot carrier effects in SOI MOSFETs have been intensified recently. In this paper an attempt is made to review the state of the art of hot carrier induced degradation in SOI MOSFETs and address possible remaining concerns that require further study