TDDB Characterization of High-k Gate Dielectric on a Sub-nanosecond Timescale

This work presents on-chip pulse generators fabricated in 16-nm and 65-nm CMOS technologies and used to measure the breakdown voltage of high-k and SiO2 gate dielectrics on a sub-nanosecond timescale. The pulse generators produce clean single-shot pulses with amplitude up to 7.5 V and pulse width as short as 100 ps. The sub-ns applicability of established models for TDDB voltage acceleration and area scaling is assessed using the pulse generator.