HCI vs. BTI? - Neither one's out

In the development of MOSFETs first ‘Hot Carrier Injection’ (HCI) played an important role for reliability aspects [1,2]. With new shrinked process generations and nitrided gate oxides additionally the ‘Bias Temperature Instability’ (BTI) raised and became the most critical mechanism. Some publications even claim that HCI is negligible in main-stream applications [3–6]. But is this statement generally true or is it the result of a partial view? This paper will discuss the area of conflict regarding the importance of N/PBTI and HCI. Some typical examples will illuminate different fields of applications with one dominating damage mechanism. Specific characteristics of these circuits and operation conditions leading to an outbalance of HCI or Negative-/Positive-BTI will be carved out. Finally it will be evaluated if a general trend is observable.