Comparison of the electrical and thermal stability of stress- or radiation-induced leakage current in thin oxides

In this work, the leakage currents induced by electrical stress and by irra diation are compared. We show that the I-g-V-g characteristics of a 5.4-nm- thick oxide are very similar for both types of stresses. Moreover, we show that the electrical stability and the annealing behavior of the defects at the origin of the leakage current are very similar. We demonstrate that the radiation-induced leakage current can be fully annealed. Comparing the pro perties of the stress-induced leakage current and the radiation-induced lea kage current, we believe that these currents are both due to the same type of defects which are supposed to be related to trapped holes. (C) 2000 Amer ican Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)03609-3].