In this work, we have investigated the effects of temperature and optical illumination on organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) with indium-tin-oxide electrode. Experimental results have shown that the turn-on characteristics of the pentacene OTFT with ITO as source/drain electrodes is dependent on environmental temperatures. In addition, it has been found the pentacene OTFT is one kind of photo-sensitive devices. External stimulations can change the I-V characteristics significantly. For example, our pentacene OTFT show a shift of the onset and threshold voltage with illumination, which recovers slowly in the dark. Therefore, except for the application of switch devices, petacene OTFT exhibits a potential application for image sensors.

In this research, the degradation effect of the low temperature polycrystalline silicon TFTs (LTPS TFTs) under dynamic stress was investigated. The experiment results revealed that the degenerate behaviors of n- and p-type poly-Si were different. In p-channel TFT, it was observed that the degradation of threshold-voltage (Vth) was closely associated with the stress frequency of ac stress. The degradation was more serious at low-frequency stress than that at high-frequency stress. The degradation of electrical characteristics of device is mainly dominated by the self-heating enhanced negative bias temperature instability effect. Moreover, the increased temperature around the environment could make the degradation of characteristics more serious, such as Vth shift (fixed charge), degraded S.S (dangling bonds). We suggest that the generation of deep states originated from bond broken at both of grain-boundary and interface state was explained the degradation mechanism of threshold-voltage. In n-channel TFT, the degradation characteristics may be attributed to both of the temperature effect and the hot carrier effect under the different stress frequency. At low-frequency stress, Vth shift (positively) and mobility are increased after 100 seconds stress because of the temperature effect. However, Vth shift (negatively) and mobility are decreased after 500 seconds stress because of the effect of the state creation near the drain regime. At high-frequency stress, the times of the switch is numerous, and result in the on-state current decreased because of the trap state generated.

Mineral oil has been widely used in liquid insulation of power transformers. However, it is poorly biodegradable and could cause serious contamination to the environment if a spill occurs. With increasingly strict environmental rules and regulations, there is considerable interest from the Utilities to apply esters in power transformers as substitutions to mineral oil. In order to use esters in large power transformers, their dielectric properties should be thoroughly investigated. This PhD thesis covers the experimental studies on the dielectric properties of a type of synthetic ester (Midel 7131) and a type of natural ester (FR3) in both uniform and divergent electric fields, using a mineral oil (Gemini X) as the benchmark. The dielectric properties of transformer liquids in uniform fields were investigated using breakdown voltage tests. The breakdown voltages of esters should be at least similar to that of mineral oil to allow a replacement in transformers. To obtain a fair comparison, the AC breakdown voltages of well-processed transformer liquids were tested, and their distributions were statistically analyzed. Since the breakdowns of transformer liquids in uniform fields are caused by the weakest-links, conditions representative of in-service transformer liquids were also considered by testing the effects of extraneous factors, such as particles, water and electrode area. The divergent fields were produced by sharp needle electrodes with tip curvatures of a few micrometers. The dielectric properties of transformer liquids in such fields were studied using several methods. A traditional PD detector was used to study the partial discharge characteristics of insulating liquids, such as the inception voltages and the repetition rates. A high speed camera was utilized to identify the streamer generation, propagation and breakdown phenomena. An oscilloscope was used to investigate the current signals associated with these phenomena. The breakdown voltages of transformer liquids were also determined in the divergent field at various gaps. Furthermore, the fault gases in transformer liquids under partial discharge faults were determined and analyzed. The following findings and conclusions can be made from the research in this thesis: * The AC dielectric strengths of esters in uniform fields are similar to that of mineral oil when they are in a well-processed condition. When practical liquid conditions are considered, the AC dielectric strengths of esters are higher than that of mineral oil. * The partial discharge behaviours at overstressed voltages can be used to differentiate various transformer liquids. Esters are relatively inferior to mineral oil in terms of higher discharge amplitude, higher discharge repetition rate and more negative partial discharges.* Mineral oil possesses a higher ability to suppress the propagation of negative streamers. Thus, the AC dielectric strength of mineral oil in the divergent field is relatively higher than those of esters. * Esters generate the same types of fault gases due to electrical discharge as mineral oil, but in relatively larger amounts.

abstract: The aging process due to Bias Temperature Instability (both NBTI and PBTI) and Channel Hot Carrier (CHC) is a key limiting factor of circuit lifetime in CMOS design. Threshold voltage shift due to BTI is a strong function of stress voltage and temperature complicating stress and recovery prediction. This poses a unique challenge for long-term aging prediction for wide range of stress patterns. Traditional approaches usually resort to an average stress waveform to simplify the lifetime prediction. They are efficient, but fail to capture circuit operation, especially under dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) or in analog/mixed signal designs where the stress waveform is much more random. This work presents a suite of modelling solutions for BTI that enable aging simulation under all possible stress conditions. Key features of this work are compact models to predict BTI aging based on Reaction-Diffusion theory when the stress voltage is varying. The results to both reaction-diffusion (RD) and trapping-detrapping (TD) mechanisms are presented to cover underlying physics. Silicon validation of these models is performed at 28nm, 45nm and 65nm technology nodes, at both device and circuit levels. Efficient simulation leveraging the BTI models under DVS and random input waveform is applied to both digital and analog representative circuits such as ring oscillators and LNA. Both physical mechanisms are combined into a unified model which improves prediction accuracy at 45nm and 65nm nodes. Critical failure condition is also illustrated based on NBTI and PBTI at 28nm. A comprehensive picture for duty cycle shift is shown. DC stress under clock gating schemes results in monotonic shift in duty cycle which an AC stress causes duty cycle to converge close to 50% value. Proposed work provides a general and comprehensive solution to aging analysis under random stress patterns under BTI. Channel hot carrier (CHC) is another dominant degradation mechanism which affects analog and mixed signal circuits (AMS) as transistor operates continuously in saturation condition. New model is proposed to account for e-e scattering in advanced technology nodes due to high gate electric field. The model is validated with 28nm and 65nm thick oxide data for different stress voltages. It demonstrates shift in worst case CHC condition to Vgs=Vds from Vgs=0.5Vds. A novel iteration based aging simulation framework for AMS designs is proposed which eliminates limitation for conventional reliability tools. This approach helps us identify a unique positive feedback mechanism termed as Bias Runaway. Bias runaway, is rapid increase of the bias voltage in AMS circuits which occurs when the feedback between the bias current and the effect of channel hot carrier turns into positive. The degradation of CHC is a gradual process but under specific circumstances, the degradation rate can be dramatically accelerated. Such a catastrophic phenomenon is highly sensitive to the initial operation condition, as well as transistor gate length. Based on 65nm silicon data, our work investigates the critical condition that triggers bias runaway, and the impact of gate length tuning. We develop new compact models as well as the simulation methodology for circuit diagnosis, and propose design solutions and the trade-offs to avoid bias runaway, which is vitally important to reliable AMS designs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 2014