Influence of -ray total dose radiation effect on the tunneling gate current of the uniaxial strained Si nanometer n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor
Authors: Hao Min-Ru  , Hu Hui-Yong  , Liao Chen-Guang  , Wang Bin  , Zhao Xiao-Hong  , Kang Hai-Yang  , Su Han  , Zhang He-Ming  ,   Key Laboratory of Wide Band-Gap Semiconductor Materials and Devices, School of Microelectronics, Xidian University, Xi'an 710071, China
Published: December 2020

The carrier microscopic transport process of uniaxial strained Si n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (NMOSFET) is analyzed under -ray radiation. The model of radiation-induced defect densities that are quantitative representations of trapped charges integrated across the thickness of the oxide (Not), and the number of interface traps at the semiconductor/oxide interface (Nit), is established. The variations of electrical characteristics of the uniaxial strained Si nanometer NMOSFET are also investigated under the total dose radiation. The device of uniaxial strained Si nanometer NMOSTET is irradiated by a 60Co -ray laboratory source at a constant dose rate of 0.5 Gy (Si)/s. The TID is deposited in several steps up to a maximum value of 2.5 kGy. Electrical measurements are performed at each TID step. All irradiated samples are measured using field test, and are required to finish measurement within 30 min, in order to reduce the annealing effect. Static drain-current ID vs. gate-voltage VGS electrical characteristics are measured with an HP4155B parametric analyzer. Some parameter extractions presented here come from these static measurements including the threshold voltage VTH, the trans-conductance gm, and the leakage current IOFF (ID at VGS=0 V and VDS=VDD). Irradiation bias:VG=+1 V, drain voltage VD is equal to source voltage VS (VD=VS=0). Measurement bias:VG=0-1 V, scanning voltage Vstep=0.05 V, VD=50 mV, and VS=0. The results indicate the drift of threshold voltage, the degradation of carrier mobility and the increase of leakage current because of the total dose radiation. Based on quantum mechanics, an analytical model of tunneling gate current of the uniaxial strained Si nanometer is developed due to the total dose irradiation effect. Based on this model, numerical simulation is carried out by Matlab. The influences of total dose, geometry and physics parameters on tunneling gate current are simulated. The simulation results show that when radiation dose and bias are constant, the tunneling gate current increases as the channel length decreases. When the structure parameters and the stress are fixed, the tunneling gate current increases with the increase of radiation dose. Whereas at a given the radiation dose, tunneling gate current will decrease due to the stress. When radiation dose and bias are kept unchanged, the tunneling gate current increases with the thickness of the gate oxide layer decresing. When the gate-source voltage, the thickness of oxide layer and stress are fixed, tunneling gate current is reduced with the increase of doping concentration in channel. When the structural parameters, the gate-source voltage and radiation dose are constant, the tunneling gate current decreases with increasing drain-source voltage. In addition, to evaluate the validity of the model, the simulation results are compared with experimental data, and good agreement is confirmed. Thus, the experimental results and proposed model provide good reference for research on irradiation reliability and application of strained integrated circuit of uniaxial strained Si nanometer n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor.