We have observed discrete random telegraph signals (RTSs) in the drain voltages of three, nominally 1.25 μm×1.25 μm, enhancement-mode p-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor transistors operated in strong inversion in their linear regimes with constant drain-current and gate-voltage bias, for temperatures ranging from 4.2 to 300 K. The switching rates for all RTSs observed above 30 K were thermally activated. The switching rate for the only RTS observed below 30 K was thermally activated above 30 K but temperature independent below 10 K. This response is consistent with a crossover from thermal activation to tunneling at low temperatures. Implications are discussed for models of change exchange between the Si and the near-interfacial
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The relative importance of lattice versus carrier temperature is interesting to consider further. Jackel and co-workers have performed experiments to separate effects of electron and lattice temperature on switching rates of a RTS in a narrow n-channel MOSFET. They found that the electron capture rate depended on both lattice and electron temperatures while the emission rate depended only upon lattice temperature (see Ref. 17). This experiment is frequently quoted in support of trapping models, but we are unaware of attempts to duplicate it with other samples. In the future, it would be interesting to separate out the effects associated with lattice and carrier temperatures for other RTSs in MOSFETs or other physical systems.
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