Electronic processes in silicon nitride

Time, electric field, and temperature dependence of the flat‐band voltage shift and steady‐state contact‐current versus contact‐field characteristics in polycrystalline silicon‐oxide‐nitride‐oxide‐silicon structures subjected to high field stress have been studied in detail. Experimental data are compared with exact (numerical) solutions of the Arnett model [P. C. Arnett, J. Appl. Phys. 46, 5236 (1975)] for one‐carrier (electron) transport in silicon nitride. It is shown that a simple field‐assisted thermal ionization (Poole–Frenkel) detrapping mechanism cannot explain the experimental observations, leading to unphysical values for the attempt‐to‐escape frequency. An alternative model is proposed based on a thermally assisted tunneling detrapping mechanism. Trap density, effective capture cross section, ground‐state energy, and an upper limit for the energy of the first excited state of the electron trap are determined.

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