Charge transport in thin interpoly nitride/oxide stacked films

In this work, charge transport through interpoly thin nitride/oxide stacked films, including nitride/oxide dual- and oxide/nitride/oxide tri-layer fil ms, was studied. Extensive experimental results, concerning current conduct ion in single oxide layer, single nitride layer, nitride/oxide dual-layer, and oxide/nitride/oxide tri-layer films are presented. An effective investi gation of the various mechanisms that can explain current conduction and ch arge trapping in these dielectrics was performed. To this aim, different ap proaches to transport modeling, namely, a classical current continuity mode l, a transmission model, and a two-step trap assisted model are proposed. T he gains and trade offs offered by each model are pointed out. A comprehens ive model for the conduction mechanisms in thin nitride/oxide stacked films is proposed. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)08416- 9].