Hot Carrier Injection degradation induced dispersion: Model and circuit-level measurement

Managing Hot Carrier Injection degradation in digital applications becomes a great challenge for advanced technology nodes. A methodology of introducing Hot Carrier Injection in a design flow is demonstrated. Model is based on a renormalization damage function including an energy driven and carrier density driven modes. Additionally, for the first time, an HCI degradation-induced dispersion is presented and calibrated. Finally, the applicability of our HCI model is proven at circuit-level. Simulated results are in line with experimental drifts observed after HTOL conditions. The sensitivity of HCI degradation to gate driving capability, fan-out and signal frequency are reviewed and discussed.