THICKNESS AND EFFECTIVE ELECTRON MASS MEASUREMENTS FOR THIN SILICON DIOXIDE FILMS USING TUNNELING CURRENT OSCILLATIONS

A novel method is presented for measuring the thicknesses of thin (< 6 0 Angstrom) silicon dioxide (SiO2) films using the oscillations in the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling currents. An important feature of the propo sed method is that the accuracy of this method increases with decreasi ng oxide thickness and thicknesses changes of similar to 1 Angstrom ca n be detected. The oscillations are also used for measuring the averag e effective electron mass in the conduction band of SiO2.