RTS Noise Characterization of Trap Properties in InGaAs nFinFETs

Abstract

In order to extract and characterize the trap properties in In <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\textit{x}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> Ga <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$_{\text{1}-\textit{x}}$</tex-math> </inline-formula> As nFinFET sensitively and effectively, the time-domain and frequency-domain characteristics of low-frequency noise are studied by the random telegraph signal (RTS) method. It is found that the RTS noise in this study originates from the strong electron–phonon coupling mechanism. The activation energies of traps are extracted from the Arrhenius curves, and the results show that these traps mainly come from extended defects, such as dislocation, etc. Furthermore, the relationship between noise characteristics and gate length is explored, it is found that with the reduction of the gate length, the noise contains more RTS components. The noise behavior of devices with different In content is also investigated, it shows that the average of activation energies, as well as the capture cross section of bulk traps, decrease with the increasing In content in the channel. Overall, it can be concluded that the RTS noise is an effective tool to reveal the defect properties of nano-scaled devices. It can be used to provide theoretical guidance in improving the performance and reliability of devices.