Comparison of Digital- and Analog-like Progressive Breakdown in nMOSFETs and pMOSFETs with Ultrathin Gate Oxide

The gate leakage current (I_g) evolution during progressive breakdown (PBD) in both n- and p-channel metal-oxide- semiconductor field-effect transistors (n/pMOSFETs) with ultrathin gate oxide is studied using a multiple-stage constant-voltage stress. Our results reveal that mechanisms responsible for the early stage of PBD in both types of transistors could be universal, but different mechanisms could be involved in controlling the later stage of PBD. This finding provides more insights in understanding the variation of power-law exponent (40-50 for nMOSFETs, and 33-45 for pMOSFETs) reported in Ref. [1].