Accelerated gate-oxide breakdown in mixed-voltage I/O circuits

This paper describes a new mechanism of gate-oxide breakdown fails observed in mixed-voltage I/O circuits during an accelerated product stress. Although no gate-oxide breakdown was expected from Fowler-Nordheim stress, gate-oxide fails were observed only in short-channel PMOSFETs of the mixed-voltage I/O circuits. Accelerated gate-oxide breakdown was attributed to non-conductive channel hot-electron injection at the drain edge.