Hot-carrier effects on power RF LDMOS device reliability

This paper reports comparative reliability of the hot carrier induced electrical performance degradation in power RF LDMOS transistors after novel methods for accelerated ageing tests under various conditions (electrical and/or thermal stress). It is important to understand the effects of the reliability degradation mechanisms on the S-parameters and in turn on static and dynamic parameters. The analysis of the experimental results is presented and the physical processes responsible for the observed degradation at different stress conditions are studied by means of 2D ATLAS-SILVACO simulations. The RF performance degradation of hot-carrier effects power RF LDMOS transistors can be explained by the transconductance and miller capacitance shifts, which are resulted from the interface state generation and trapped electrons, thereafter results in a build up of negative charge at Si/SiO₂ interface.