On the nature of ultra-thin gate oxide degradation during pulse stressing of nMOSCAPs

Preliminary Pulse (dynamic) stress testing (PVS) results performed in accumulation indicate that degradation and breakdown mechanisms occur such as stress induced leakage current (SILC) and hard breakdown (HBD) as previously reported. Additional degradation and breakdown mechanisms due to PVS were observed for the first time such as soft breakdown (SBD), limited hard breakdown (LHBD) and moderate breakdown (MBD). Finally, post-PVS induced LHBD I-V measurements show the leakage current in accumulation is more than 5 orders of magnitude greater than in inversion at similar voltages.