WORKSHOP PAPER
Recovery of Random Telegraph Noises in a Stacked CMOS Image Sensor by High-Temperature Annealing after Hot-Carrier Stress
Calvin Yi-Ping Chao1, Thomas Meng-Hsiu Wu, Charles Chih-Min Liu, Shang-Fu Yeh, Chih-Lin Lee, Honyih Tu, Zhong-Da Wu, Joey Chiao-Yi Huang, Chin-Hao Chang
1Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC

Abstract

In this paper we first study the temperature effects on the device aging, in particular the random telegraph noise (RTN) degradation and the threshold voltage (Vt) shift in a stacked CMOS image sensor (CIS) caused by hot-carrier stress (HCS). The measured data show both are worse when stressed at lower temperatures (-35°C). Furthermore, we find that the RTN traps generated by HCS can be annealed effectively by a subsequent high temperature bake at 240°C for up to 360 min. In contrast, the RTN traps in chips not stressed by hot carriers are mostly unaffected by annealing at 240°C for the same amount of time. The results suggest that the physical structure of the RTN traps caused by process induced damage (PID) without HCS might be different from those created by HCS. The exact microscopic nature of the differences between these two kinds of RTN traps are not clear at this time and requires further investigation.
Year: 2025
Workshop: IISW
URL: https://doi.org/10.60928/cf8e-z7tp
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Keywords

Random Telegraph Noise, CMOS Image Sensor, Hot-Carrier Stress, Annealing, Process Induced Damage, RTN Traps,

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