A front-gate charge-pumping method for probing both interfaces in SOI devices

A simple front-gate charge pumping technique has been developed, which enables the measurement of interface traps at both the front and the back interfaces of a fully depleted (FD) SOI/MOSFET. It is based on the strong coupling between the two interfaces, and its validity has been verified both experimentally and by computer simulation. Experiments have been performed on both SOI/MOSFET's and SOI/PMOSFET's. This front-gate charge pumping technique is then utilized to study the hot-carrier induced degradation in SOI/NMOSFET's. It has been found that the back channel is physically damaged after front-channel hot-carrier injection. Front-gate Fowler-Nordheim (FN) injection has been found to cause damage at the front interface only.