Substrate currents in short buried-channel PMOS devices at cryogenic temperatures

For MOSFETs biased in the saturation mode, measurable substrate current due to impact ionization near the drain often flows. If this substrate current is large enough, the substrate bias generator can become overloaded and breakdown can occur if the source - substrate junction is forward biased. Substrate currents can also be used as a reliability monitor of hot carrier effects in short channel MOS devices. In this paper, detailed experimental …