1.5 µm Gate CMOS operated at 77 K

The advantages of CMOS operation at the liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) and limitations caused by hot-carrier effects are examined. In particular, the continuous temperature dependence of CMOS devices from 300 K to 77 K has been measured for the first time. There are gate length dependence and gate field dependence in the change of each transistor´s transconductance from at 300 K to at 77 K. The saturation of carrier velocity is considered to be a reason for these phenomena.