HIGH-FIELD RELATED THIN OXIDE WEAROUT AND BREAKDOWN

The high voltage wearout and breakdown of thin silicon oxides has been described in terms of traps generated inside of the oxide and at the interfaces by a high field emission process. The trap generation was a ccompanied by the motion of atoms which resulted in permanent traps fi xed in space, Breakdown occurred when the local density of traps excee ded a critical density. The charge state of these traps could easily b e changed by application of low voltages after the high voltage stress es. The energy levels of the traps varied depending on the probability of trap generation. This model has been applied to analyze the thickn ess, field, polarity, time, and temperature dependences of oxide wearo ut and breakdown observed in oxides thinner than 22 mm. It was conclud ed that the wearout process in oxides thinner than 22 nm was determine d by the electric fields applied to the oxides and not by the passage of currents through the oxides.