Low-frequency noise in hot-carrier degraded nMOSFETs

This paper discusses the low-frequency (LF) noise in submicron nMOSFETs under controlled transistor aging by hot-carrier stress. Both traditional, steady-state LF noise as well as the LF noise under periodic large-signal excitation were found to increase upon device degradation, for both hydrogen passivated and deuterium passivated Si–SiO2 interfaces. As hot-carrier degradation is slower in deuterium-annealed MOSFETs, so is the increase of the noise in these devices. The noise-suppressing effect of periodic OFF switching is gradually lost during hot-carrier degradation, as the LF noise under periodic large-signal excitation increases more rapidly than the LF noise in steady-state.