Electric field is a presence resulted from coulomb force of the carrier charges. As it does not manifested physically, could electric field do some mechanical damage such as lattice displacement ?
Trapped charges in a semiconductor can indeed produce parasitic electric fields, and while these fields may not directly cause physical damage to the crystal lattice in the same way mechanical stress or other external factors might, they can have indirect effects on the semiconductor's performance and reliability.
Here are a few ways in which parasitic fields from trapped charges can impact a semiconductor:
Threshold Voltage Shift: Trapped charges can affect the threshold voltage of transistors. This shift in the threshold voltage can lead to changes in the operational characteristics of the device, potentially affecting its performance.
Charge Injection and Leakage: Parasitic fields can facilitate the injection or extraction of charges in unintended regions, leading to increased leakage currents or altered charge carrier concentrations. This can result in increased power consumption and reduced efficiency.
Reliability Issues: Over time, exposure to parasitic fields can contribute to long-term reliability issues, such as bias temperature instability and negative bias temperature instability, which can degrade the performance of the semiconductor.
Breakdown Voltage: In extreme cases, high electric fields can lead to dielectric breakdown, causing permanent damage to the semiconductor device. This is more likely to occur if the parasitic fields are extremely high and exceed the breakdown strength of the material.
While the effects mentioned above may not be direct physical "damage" to the crystal lattice in the sense of breaking bonds or causing structural defects, they can still have serious implications for the functionality and reliability of the semiconductor device. Engineers and designers take great care to mitigate the impact of trapped charges and parasitic fields through careful material selection, device design, and manufacturing processes. Techniques such as charge-pumping, stress testing, and other reliability testing methods are employed to ensure the robustness of semiconductor devices against such issues.