SUBHDIP: process variations tolerant subthreshold Darlington pair‐based NBTI sensor circuit. Issue 3 (3rd December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shah, Ambika Prasad; Yadav, Nandakishor; Beohar, Ankur; Vishvakarma, Santosh K.
• Is Part Of: IET computers & digital techniques. Volume 13:Issue 3(2019)
• Page Start: 243
• Page End: 249
• Publication Date: 2018-12-03
• Subjects: leakage currents -- MOSFET -- semiconductor device reliability -- VLSI -- negative bias temperature instability; process variation -- high‐performance integrated circuits -- vertical oxide field -- high‐input impedance -- temperature variation -- temporal degradation -- room temperature -- negative bias temperature instability -- subthreshold Darlington pair -- NBTI degradation sensor -- nanoscale very‐large‐scale integration -- NBTI sensor circuit -- high‐speed integrated circuits -- P‐channel MOS transistors -- SUBHDIP -- leakage current -- current 30.0 nA -- temperature 293 K to 298 K; Computers -- Periodicals; Digital electronics -- Periodicals; Computer engineering -- Periodicals; Computer architecture -- Periodicals; Computer organization -- Periodicals; 621.39
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-cdt.2018.5123
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-8601

Abstract

Abstract : Aggressive technology scaling has inevitably led to reliability becomes a major concern for modern high‐speed and high‐performance integrated circuits. The major reliability concerns in nanoscale very‐large‐scale integration design are the time‐dependent negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) degradation. Owing to increasing vertical oxide field and higher operating temperature, the threshold voltage of P‐channel MOS transistors increases with time under NBTI. This study presents a novel subthreshold Darlington pair‐based NBTI degradation sensor under the stress conditions. The proposed sensor provides the high degree of linearity and sensitivity under subthreshold conditions. The Darlington pair used in the circuit provides the stability and the high‐input impedance of the circuit makes it less affected by the process variations. Owing to high sensitivity, the proposed sensor is best suited for sensing of temperature variation, process variation, and temporal degradation during measurement. The sensitivity of the proposed sensor at room temperature is 0.239 mV/nA under subthreshold conditions. The proposed sensor is less affected by the process variation and has the maximum deviation of 0.0011 mV at standby leakage current of 30 nA.