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Body current scanning (BCS) is a new concept that exploits body (substrate) current reversal in NPN bipolar transistors to characterize the floating body effects and parasitic bipolar action in n-channel silicon-on-insulator (SOI) metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors. At sufficiently high drain biases, a parasitic bipolar transistor modeled in parallel with the SOI MOS transistor is activated by hole accumulation in the body. BCS directly measures the floating body potential corresponding to the parasitic bipolar base, and is capable of distinguishing between the respective current contributions from MOS and bipolar devices. Consequently, the evaluation of parasitic bipolar and the influence of floating body on SOI device characteristics are facilitated.

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