FinFET reliability study by forward gated-diode generation–recombination current
Reliability of FinFETs is studied in this paper using the forward gated-diode generation–recombination (G–R) current. The current–voltage characteristics of a FinFET are measured for parameter extraction and a mathematical algorithm is used to extract the stress-induced interface states and oxide traps of the FinFET from the G–R current measurement. It is observed that the stress-induced interface states and oxide traps can be distinguished by observing the shift of the peak G–R current in the body current (Ib) versus gate voltage (Vg) characteristic. The interface states cause a change in the maximum G–R current (ΔIpeak) while the oxide traps result in a shift of the gate voltage (ΔVg) corresponding to the ΔIpeak. Unlike bulk MOSFETs, the dominant degradation mechanism of FinFETs is found to be the oxide traps formation rather than the interface states generation.