Junction temperature induced thermal snapback breakdown of MOSFET device

Continued scaling of semiconductor devices is increasingly concerned with physical limits of maximum junction temperature. This paper reports the mechanism of a junction temperature induced thermal snapback breakdown of a MOSFET device in the absence of the high electric field. The thermal snapback breakdown results from Fermi-level shift and thermally generated hole current driven by the junction temperature. It occurs before the junction temperature reaches the intrinsic level and thus determines a fundamental physical limit of MOSFET device operation.