Observations of negative bias temperature instability defect generation via on the fly electron spin resonance

We demonstrate "on the fly" electron spin resonance (ESR) in which the defect generation process in the negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) can be observed without recovery contamination. Elevated temperature and modest negative gate bias generates ESR spectra due to E′ center defects. The NBTI generated E′ center spectrum disappears upon stress condition removal, a result consistent with recovery. Our observations support the idea that NBTI is triggered by inversion layer hole capture at an E′ precursor site which leads to depassivation of nearby interface trap precursors.