REVERSIBILITY OF CHARGE TRAPPING AND SILC CREATION IN THIN OXIDES AFTER STRESS ANNEAL CYCLING/

The reversibility of charge buildup and SILC generation in thin oxides subjected to successive stress/anneal cycles is investigated. It is d emonstrated that in thin oxides both electron trapping and SILC are ne arly fully reversible degradation processes having a generation kineti cs almost unchanged after several stressing/annealing cycles. The anne aling kinetics of the SILC is likely associated to the out diffusion o f charged defects (possibly trapped holes or H+) whose characteristics (diffusivity, activation energy) are independent of the oxide thickne ss. Moreover correlation between electron trapping and SILC generation has been studied. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.