Stress and recovery transients in bipolar transistors and MOS structures

Bipolar transistor degradation during stress and the subsequent recovery was compared to that of ultra-thin oxide MOS structures. Heat treatment was used for recovery of both the bipolar transistors and the MOS structures, and it was found that both types of device show logarithmic recovery transients with similar temperature dependence, suggesting that the stress induced defects are related. A new accelerated characterization technique for bipolar transistors is also presented and included in the investigation. This new technique was found to induce the same type of degradation as the common reverse-bias stress with open collector, making it an attractive tool for bipolar transistor degradation assessment while maintaining a short stress time