NASA NTRS1988
Results from the application of linear response theory are compared to experimental data from simultaneous radiation and annealing response of a CMOS device. In particular, a method is applied which was developed earlier to determine the characteristic time, t(0), as well as the parameters A and C in the 1n(t) dependence of the linear response function R(t) = -C + A1n(1-t/t(0)). The method is based on a study of the linear response for t being much less than t(0), when R(t) can be expanded in a power series of t: R(t) = R(0) + R'(0)t + 1/2R''(0)t-squared + 1/3R'''(0)t-cubed + ..., where R'(0) and R''(0) are, respectively, the first and second derivatives of R with respect to t. To find the linear response, R(t-t') is substituted in the form of this power series equation into a general equation for the shift of the threshold potential. To test the method, irradiation experiments were conducted on RCA 10(6) rad-hard CMOS IC's. A dose rate of approximately 130 rads/min was used. An IC was irradiated with Co-60 gamma rays for several hours, taking measurements of the threshold potential for one n-channel and one p-channel transistor every ten minutes. For the p-channel transistor, t(0) was found to be approximately 110 min and for the n-channel, t(0) was approximately 70 min. For the p-channel, the theoretical curve deviates from the experimental points only after 70 min; for the n-channel, the deviation takes place after 45 min. Additional findings are discussed and the application of the method to pure annealing is described.