Modeling ultrathin dielectric breakdown on correlation of charge trap-generation to charge-to-breakdown

Abstract

Degradation in ultrathin dielectric films due to high-field stress is a critical concern in ULSI technology. We investigate here the link between trap-generation and breakdown as a function of five technologically relevant parameters, namely stress-current density (10/sup -3/-10/sup 1/ A/cm/sup 2/), oxide thickness (70-250 A), stress temperature (25-100 /spl deg/C), charge-injection polarity (gate vs substrate), and nitridation of pure oxide (using N/sub 2/O). For all five parameters, a strong correlation has been observed between oxide degradation and the generation of new traps by physical bondbreaking.<>