HSIM^plus MOSFET Reliability

Fragile nanometer transistors are stressed by high field strengths in the device channel, by high temperature, and by high-frequency switching activity over extended periods of time. These stress effects lead to device 'aging', resulting in performance degradation and designs that fail to meet specification during their expected operating life.

Hot-carrier injection (HCI) is a key reliability concern for NMOS transistors in 90-nm technologies and below. Device aging effects include changes in the following:

• Current-driving capability
• Threshold voltage (Vth)
• Trans-conductance value (gm)
• Sub-threshold slope (S)

HSIM^plus™ MOS Reliability Analysis (MOSRA) allows users to add aging effects to industry-standard BSIM3 and BSIM4 models. In addition to the built-in HCI reliability model equation, MOSRA provides a User Reliability Interface (URI) that permits users to define custom equations for modeling HCI and other stress effects, such as negative-bias temperature instability (NBTI) in PMOS devices. Using MOSRA enables users to measure performance degradation over time, by comparing the results of pre-stress and post-stress simulation results.