Metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect‐transistor substrate current during Fowler–Nordheim tunneling stress and silicon dioxide reliability

The origin of the substrate current of a metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect transistor when the gate oxide undergoes Fowler–Nordheim stress is investigated. It is also shown that anode hole injection current predicts the breakdown of silicon dioxide between 25 and 130 A and 2.4 and 12 V. While the measured substrate current is entirely due to anode hole injection for oxides thicker than 55 A, tunneling by valence‐band electrons contributes to the substrate current in thinner oxides. Valence‐band electron tunneling current is shown to increase with oxide stressing similar to low‐voltage gate oxide leakage; apparently, both are enhanced by trap‐assisted tunneling. For oxides of thickness between 25 and 130 A, the theory of anode hole injection directly verified for oxides thicker than 55 A is able to model silicon dioxide breakdown accurately.

[1]  J. Maserjian,et al.  Oscillations in MOS tunneling , 1975 .

[2]  B. Ricco,et al.  Novel Mechanism for Tunneling and Breakdown of Thin SiO 2 Films , 1983 .

[3]  C. Svensson,et al.  Carrier trapping hysteresis in MOS transistors , 1970 .

[4]  Avinoam Kolodny,et al.  Two components of tunneling current in metal‐oxide‐semiconductor structures , 1983 .

[5]  J. Lien,et al.  Degradations due to hole trapping in flash memory cells , 1989, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[6]  Masakazu Shimaya,et al.  Neutral electron trap generation in SiO2 by hot holes , 1990 .

[7]  Bruno Ricco,et al.  Physics of resonant tunneling. The one-dimensional double-barrier case , 1984 .

[8]  N. Saks,et al.  Observation of H/sup +/ motion during interface trap formation , 1990 .

[9]  S. Lai,et al.  Interface trap generation in silicon dioxide when electrons are captured by trapped holes , 1983 .

[10]  M. Fischetti,et al.  Investigation of the SiO2‐induced substrate current in silicon field‐effect transistors , 1985 .

[11]  E. Harari.  Dielectric breakdown in electrically stressed thin films of thermal SiO2 , 1978 .

[12]  J. Maserjian,et al.  Observation of positively charged state generation near the Si/SiO2 interface during Fowler–Nordheim tunneling , 1982 .

[13]  B. Riccò,et al.  High-field-induced degradation in ultra-thin SiO/sub 2/ films , 1988 .

[14]  D. Arnold,et al.  Impact ionization, trap creation, degradation, and breakdown in silicon dioxide films on silicon , 1993 .

[15]  M. Liang,et al.  MOSFET Degradation due to stressing of thin oxide , 1984, 1982 International Electron Devices Meeting.

[16]  Massimo V. Fischetti,et al.  SiO2‐induced substrate current and its relation to positive charge in field‐effect transistors , 1986 .

[17]  W. C. Johnson,et al.  High‐field transport in SiO2 on silicon induced by corona charging of the unmetallized surface , 1976 .

[18]  Robert W. Brodersen,et al.  Quantum yield of electron impact ionization in silicon , 1985 .

[19]  Chen Ih-Chin,et al.  The effect of channel hot-carrier stressing on gate-oxide integrity in MOSFETs , 1988 .

[20]  E. Rosenbaum,et al.  Effect of hot-carrier injection on n- and pMOSFET gate oxide integrity , 1991, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[21]  C. Hu,et al.  Stress-induced oxide leakage , 1991, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[22]  Eduard A. Cartier,et al.  Degradation and breakdown of silicon dioxide films on silicon , 1992 .

[23]  Tsuneo Ajioka,et al.  Electron trap center generation due to hole trapping in SiO2 under Fowler–Nordheim tunneling stress , 1987 .

[24]  D. Dimaria,et al.  Correlation of trap creation with electron heating in silicon dioxide , 1987 .

[25]  Chenming Hu,et al.  Electron-trap generation by recombination of electrons and holes in SiO2 , 1987 .

[26]  B. Doyle,et al.  Impact of snapback-induced hole injection on gate oxide reliability of N-MOSFETs , 1990, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[27]  Chenming Hu,et al.  Ultra-thin silicon-dioxide breakdown characteristics of MOS devices with n+and p+polysilicon gates , 1987, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[28]  C. Hu,et al.  Hole injection SiO/sub 2/ breakdown model for very low voltage lifetime extrapolation , 1994 .

[29]  R. Devine.  The Physics and Technology of Amorphous SiO2 , 1988 .