TRANSIENT SUBSTRATE CURRENT GENERATION AND DEVICE DEGRADATION IN CMOS CIRCUITS AT 77 K.

The effects of hot carriers on CMOS device characteristics and circuit performance have been investigated at 77 K under pulsed-stress conditions. A CMOS inverter was subjected to a pulsed input at 77 K and the resulting substrate current generation and device degradation have been characterized. The result shows that hot-carrier effects at 77 K can be significant for CMOS devices having conventional source/drain structure under pulsed stress. The effects on CMOS circuit performance are also reported.