Correlated fluctuations and noise spectra of tunneling and substrate currents before breakdown in thin-oxide MOS devices

The fluctuations of the tunnel and substrate currents in thin-oxide MOS devices biased at high fields are investigated. Preliminary results of noise measurements of the tunnel and substrate currents in thin-oxide (6-7 nm) MOSFET devices and MOS capacitors are presented. It is shown that both the currents are characterized by multilevel random fluctuations which are sometimes correlated. The correlation is complete before breakdown. >