A study of photon emission from n-channel MOSFET's

TLDR

Visible light emission accompanies an n‑channel MOSFET in saturation, and the hot‑electron energy states under bias are described by a Maxwell‑Boltzmann distribution. This study reports, for the first time, the spectral distribution of that emitted light. The authors experimentally determine the hot‑electron temperature by analyzing the photon spectrum. The spectrum follows an exp(−α hv) dependence, and the hot‑electron temperature is found to vary with the electric field strength in the drain avalanche region.

Abstract

It is known that an n-channel MOSFET, operating in the saturation region, is accompanied by visible light emission. The spectral distribution of this emitted light is reported in this paper for the first time. It behaves as exp (-α . hv) under various bias conditions (α: constant); the energy state of hot electrons is described as a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. The hot-electron temperature in an n-channel MOSFET is experimentally evaluated from the photon spectrum analysis. As compared with the electric field strength calculated by two-dimensional simulation, the hot-electron temperature is found to be determined as a function of the electric field strength in the drain avalanche region.