Detection of Hot Carrier Generated Phonon Using the Gate-Induced Drain Leakage in the Silicon Chip

Abstract

We report a method and an experiment to directly estimate the phonon energy generated by hot electrons during the MOSFET operation. By measuring the gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) current of the MOSFET (as a phonon sensor), we were able to measure the phonon energy generated by the hot electron scattering at a nearby MOSFET (as a phonon generator). In order to validate the idea, we performed experiments with the five-transistor scheme that consists of the one-phonon sensor and four-phonon generators. By using the lock-in technique in the scheme, we measured the increment in the GIDL current which is caused by the phonons transported from the phonon generator. During the operation of each phonon generator on different distances and gate bias conditions at room temperature, we estimate the equivalent lattice temperature from the variation of the GIDL current on the assumption of the system in the near equilibrium. Moreover, by performing the same experiment at low temperature, we show the measurement of the phonon energy under a nonequilibrium of the phonons. We explain the fundamental principle that the GIDL current can estimate the phonon energy under the nonequilibrium as well as the equilibrium.