HOT HOLE INDUCED BREAKDOWN OF THIN SILICON DIOXIDE FILMS

Hole induced dielectric breakdown of thin gate oxide films is investig ated using substrate hot hole (SHH) injection technique. The breakdown characteristics due to SHH stress differ from the case of Fowler-Nord heim (FN) tunneling current stress: the gate current increases gradual ly just before the breakdown. Measured hole-fluences-to-breakdown, 2-3 0 C/cm(2), which are much larger than that observed in FN stress, 0.1 C/cm(2), depend on hole current density. Moreover, the oxide breakdown due to FN stress is accelerated for the oxides subjected to prior hol e injection. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(97)04 451-3].