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Ultrathin dielectric films play an important role in integrated circuits (ICs), both as gate dielectrics for MOS technolo-gies~ and as tunnel dielectrics for nonvolatile erasable memory (e.g. EEPROM) technologies. We have characterized chargeto-breakdown (Qbd) using constant-current stress in such films for a range of thicknesses, temperatures, and stress-current densities. This comprehensive characterization reveals several trends not observed previously. While we briefly allude to. possible implications on breakdown mechanisms, the focus of this paper is delineating the observed trends. At room temperature, Qbd values depend on thickness in a complex manner, with Qbd decreasing with increasing thickness in certain regimes, and staying constant in other regimes. Qbd falls dramatically with increasing temperature for all thicknesses, but the magnitude of the effect differs for each thickness. We believe that this characterization contributes significantly to predicting reliability of devices employing ui~rathin oxides.

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