Transient Self-Heating Effects on Mixed-Mode Hot Carrier and Bias Temperature Instability in FinFETs: Experiments and Modeling

The self-heating effect (SHE) is a critical issue in nanoscale fin field effect transistors (FinFETs) that has emerged as an essential concern for device reliability. In physical circuit operations, devices generally suffer from mixed-mode hot carrier degradation (HCD) and bias temperature instability (BTI) stress conditions. The transient SHE at the HCD stage affects the BTI, resulting in an inadequacy of existing aging models. In this article, we develop an accurate transient self-heating model and incorporate it into a mixed-mode HCD-BTI reliability aging prediction framework. The transient SHE on the reliability of nanoscale p-type FinFETs are revealed thoroughly with experimental characterizations and accurate modeling. Circuit aging simulations with the developed transient SHE-aware aging prediction framework are presented. These results enable a more accurate reliability evaluation in state-of-the-art circuit designs.