Low-Frequency Noise Assessment of CMOS Transistors with a Through-Silicon Via

Abstract

Low-frequency (LF) noise has been used to study the impact of a nearby copper through-silicon via (TSV) on the gate oxide quality of p- and n-channel MOSFETs. It is shown that the spectra in all cases studied are governed by 1/f-like noise, associated with trapping of carriers in the gate dielectric. While the impact of the TSV on the noise magnitude and behavior of n-channel transistors is marginal, some increase of the spectral density can be found for the pMOSFETs, although there is no systematic trend with distance. This is discussed in terms of the impact of strain on the LF noise.