RF CMOS RELIABILITY

In this chapter the effects of hot carrier on the reliability of NMOS transistors are investigated. First, it is explained why the hot carrier issue can be important in RF CMOS circuits. Important mechanisms of hot carrier generation are reviewed and some of the techniques used in the measurement of hot carrier damages are explained. Next, results of measurement of DC hot carrier stress on the NMOS transistors are presented. The main focus here is the RF performance of the NMOS devices and circuits mode of them, but DC parameters of the device such as its I-V characteristics and threshold voltage are presented, as they directly affect the RF performance. Finally, using the measurements of hot carrier effects on single NMOS transistors, the effects of hot carriers on three parameters of a low noise amplifier, matching, power gain and stability, are predicted using circuit simulation.