Dj. Dumin et al., CHARACTERIZING WEAROUT, BREAKDOWN, AND TRAP GENERATION IN THIN SILICON-OXIDE, Journal of vacuum science & technology. B, Microelectronics and nanometer structures processing, measurement and phenomena, 13(4), 1995, pp. 1780-1787
It has been shown that trap generation inside thin oxides during high
voltage stressing can be coupled to time-dependent-dielectric-breakdow
n distributions through the statistics linking wearout to breakdown. S
ince the traps play a crucial role in the wearout/breakdown process, i
t is important to understand the properties of these traps. Oxides wit
h thicknesses between 2.5 nm and 22 nm have been studied with emphasis
on oxides in the 6 nm to 13 nm thickness range. The cross-section of
the traps responsible for the scattering of electrons in the tunneling
barrier, the thickness dependence of measured trap density, the spati
al and energy distribution of the traps, and the charging/discharging
properties of the traps have been measured. (C) 1995 American Vacuum S
ociety.