BIAS AND TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF HOMOGENEOUS HOT-ELECTRON INJECTIONFROM SILICON INTO SILICON DIOXIDE AT LOW VOLTAGES

In this paper, new homogeneous hot-electron injection data at 300 K an d 77 R is provided covering applied voltages from well below to well. above the Si-SiO2 barrier height, and a Hide range of oxide fields, We found that, in contrast to the MOSFET case, homogeneous injection sho ws two different regimes for accelerating voltages below and above the barrier height. A simple interpretation of the data is proposed, and supported by Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of the injection experiment. Essentially, the two regimes are the signature of a marked transition between an electron population mostly heated by the electric field, a nd a tail population created by additional but less efficient energy g ain mechanisms, leading to a sharp transition in the carrier distribut ion function, The details of the bias and temperature dependence of in jection are then interpreted as the combined effect of tunneling and c arrier distribution, Furthermore, possible implications on MOSFET gate currents are briefly discussed.