Advanced device characterization techniques

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2016. In this chapter the conventional electrical characterization techniques are reviewed. This includes the extraction of basic electrical parameters, such as threshold voltage, parasitic components, effective electrical dimensions, and measurement of secondorder effects, such as self-heating and parasitic tunneling currents. The device degradation and reliability is reviewed based on different techniques, such as BTI, for instance. Other advanced mechanisms related to softand hard-breakdown (HBD) are reviewed, including very specific phenomena like percolation and filamentary conduction, which may also serve as a reference for potential nanowire-like transport. As an alternative characterization technique approach, the use of a magnetic field combined with conventional electrical characterization techniques is introduced. This magneto-electrical characterization technique allows the study of local effects across small sections in the order of a few nanometers. This technique is very useful for mapping the conductance properties at the atomistic level, and could be very useful in optimizing the design of futuristic atomic-scale devices.