LEAKAGE OSCILLATOR BASED AGING MONITOR

According to embodiments of the subject matter disclosed in this application, the age of a target circuit component in a semiconductor device may be monitored by using at least one aging leakage oscillator and a reference leakage oscillator. An aging leakage oscillator is stressed whenever the target circuit component is used while a reference oscillator is not. Due to aging effects on the aging leakage oscillator, the frequency ratio between the aging and the reference leakage oscillators changes over time. Such a frequency ratio change over time may be used to determine the age of the target circuit component. Compared to CMOS based aging oscillators, the frequency ratio between an aging and a reference leakage oscillators changes more significantly over time.