ELECTRIC-FIELD DEPENDENCE OF TDDB ACTIVATION-ENERGY IN ULTRATHIN OXIDES

A study of the electric field dependence of the TDDB activation energy is presented for 12 nm down to 4.7 nm thin oxides. It is shown that t he TDDB activation energy depends linearly on the stress electric fiel d and that this behavior depends strongly on the oxide thickness. More over, a relationship between the TDDB activation energy attenuation pe r MV/cm and the oxide thickness has been found. As will be demonstrate d, these results are of great importance for the rigorous estimation o f the oxide lifetime of both present and future technologies. Copyrigh t (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd