Body effect induced wear-out acceleration in ultra-thin oxides

In this study, body effect influence on oxide degradation is analyzed. It i s found that the negative bias polarization on the n-well of a p-channel MO S transistor may induce a significant reduction of the oxide lifetime as we ll as an increase of stress-induced leakage current (SILC), Such a result i s demonstrated to confirm the key role of hot holes on SILC and breakdown p henomena. Moreover, even if the hot hole generated at the anode are probabl y at the origin of SILC and can be interpreted as a catalyst of breakdown, it is undoubtedly shown that both phenomena are not directly correlated: SI LC at breakdown can not be ascribed to a critical density of defect at fail ure. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.