Tunnel electron induced charge generation in very thin silicon oxide dielectrics

Abstract

Positive and negative charging effects are described for small area (0.008–20 μm2), very thin dielectric (∼2.5 nm), metal-oxide-silicon diodes in which electrons can tunnel directly between the electrodes. These effects are similar to those seen in conventional, thicker oxide devices in which electrons are injected into the oxide conduction band. We show that at least in the thin oxides, charge generation is possible at a total electron energy level which is well below those suggested in a number of models for damage in the thicker oxides.

Breakdown and defect generation in ultrathin gate oxide

“…Recently, the defect generation in 2-3.5 nm SiO 2 layers was examined by measuring the change in the tunnel current for a given bias voltage. [9][10][11][12] The increase of the tunnel current that was found corresponds with the creation of positive charge in the oxide during stressing. This positive charge creation decreased strongly with the reduction of the electron energy.…”

“…The change of the tunnel current measured for a fixed applied gate bias gives information about the intrinsic defects created in the Si/SiO 2 system during the high-field tunnel stressing. [9][10][11][12] In Fig. 6 the fractional increase ͑3͒ of the tunnel current is shown, with J 0 the initial current density…”

“…Although the electrons never enter the SiO 2 conduction band ͑CB͒ in the case of direct tunneling, a small amount of positive charge generation could still be observed for a direct tunneling stress. 9 In this work the direct tunneling current instability is further investigated and is correlated with the oxide reliability as determined by time dependent dielectric breakdown ͑TDDB͒ measurements both for gate and substrate injection of electrons. From our results, presented in Sec.…”

The post-damage behavior of a MOS tunnel emitter transistor

“…[9]) changing the carrier transport conditions. Generally, the defects may be of very different nature.…”

Formation and decomposition of hydrogen-related electron traps at hydrogenated Pd/GaAs (n-type) Schottky interfaces

“…[9][10][11][12] Also, plasma hydrogen implanted into Si and GaAs is found to compensate acceptors. [13][14][15] In those cases, source of hydrogen is considered to be involved in trap formation at the interface of the Si/SiO 2 and the carrier center compensation in the semiconductor bulk.…”