Patent ID: 6963215
Filing Date: 2005-11-08
Classification: G01R

Abstract:
1. A method of operating a semiconductor device that is subject to hot carrier injection (HCI) and is characterized by at least one device parameter and at least one dynamically varied operating parameter, said method comprising the steps of: (a) determining at least one of said device parameters that is a measure of the performance of said device; (b) determining the desired lifetime of said device based on an acceptable level of degradation of said at least one device parameter; (c) determining the stress history of said device, including whether or not said device has been previously stressed by HCI; (d) determining the function that describes how said at least one operating parameter is dynamically varied during operation of said device; (e) determining the HCI-induced changes in said at least one device parameter when said at least one operating parameter is fixed in time; (f) based on said stress history of step (c), said function of step (d), and said HCI-induced changes of step (e), determining the HCI-induced degradation of said at least one device parameter; and (g) operating said device with said function if said degradation of step (f) is not greater than said acceptable level of step (b).