STRESS-INDUCED LEAKAGE CURRENT IN ULTRATHIN SIO2-FILMS

A detailed study of the phenomena of high field stress-induced leakage current in thin oxide (5.0-8.0 nm) metal-oxide-semiconductor capacito rs has been undertaken. The dependence of the stress leakage on the st ressing electric field and the oxide thickness were obtained. The resu lts show that the stressing voltage, rather than the electric field, i s the dominant factor for determining stress-induced leakage. Furtherm ore, a threshold exists for the stressing voltage, below which no stre ss-induced leakage occurs. Since the voltage is directly related to th e electron energy, these findings are consistent with a model where el ectrons of energy above a threshold are required to produce the observ ed stress leakage.