Analysis of Product Hot Electron Problems by Gated Emission Microscopy

A new tool to analyze the hot electron problems at the product level is introduced. The method combines the latest night vision technology and computer image processing techniques to precisely locate the transistors most vulnerable to hot electron degradation. A dual microchannel intensifier is coupled to a solid state camera to detect and amplify the extremely faint light emitted by the transistors in saturation. Computer image processing techniques are then employed to boost the sensitivity. Time resolution of hot electron events is achieved by `gating´ the intensifier. To date, we have achieved a time resolution of l5ns, spatial resolution of l¿m with a sensitivity of 10nA per ¿m of substrate current. At the sensitivity level of our instrument we can even detect hot electron events which cause no degradation.