Laser-based FinFET hot-carrier degradation resolved in time-domain

Hot-carrier degradation in contemporary FinFET transistors by means of ultrafast infrared laser pulses enable the study of the evolution of excited states leading to device degradation. Here, we present results from a time-resolved optical setup where additive populations of hot-carriers are photo-injected. We report the experimental observation of damage-inducing excited states with a lifetime of 170 ± 40 fs.