Substrate hole current generation and oxide breakdown in Si MOSFETs under Fowler-Nordheim electron tunneling injection

The breakdown mechanism in thin gate oxides is proposed based on the measured substrate hole current and on the temperature-dependent hole-fluence-to-breakdown through gate oxides. From the experimental results and calculation, it is clarified that the hole generation in the gate electrode is a most promising mechanism in thin gate oxides. Moreover, it has been demonstrated for the first time that the hole-fluence-to-breakdown is not a constant value for different oxide fields but has a strong oxide field dependence at low temperatures. Based on the experimental results, we propose a model in which the oxide breakdown is a structural change initiated by hole trapping.<>