Polarity dependence of dielectric breakdown in scaled SiO/sub 2/

Author

Han, L.K. ; Bhat, M. ; Wristers, D. ; Fulford, J. ; Kwong, D.L.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Texas Univ., Austin, TX, USA

fYear

1994

fDate

11-14 Dec. 1994

Firstpage

617

Lastpage

620

Abstract

We have investigated polarity dependence of dielectric breakdown under constant current stress in scaled SiO/sub 2/ dielectrics. Results show that high-field-induced interface state generation is reduced as oxide thickness scales down and charge-to-breakdown (Q/sub BD/) for positive gate bias (+V/sub g/) increases with decreasing oxide thickness. However, Q/sub BD/ for negative gate bias (-V/sub g/) shows an opposite trend to Q/sub BD/(+V/sub g/), i.e. Q/sub BD/(-V/sub g/) decreases dramatically with decreasing oxide thickness. Therefore, there is an increased polarity dependence of dielectric breakdown when oxide thickness scales down. A physical model based on the degradation of structural transition layer (STL) and interface is proposed to explain the observed trends in Q/sub BD/.<>

Keywords

MOS capacitors; MOS integrated circuits; ULSI; electric breakdown; insulating thin films; integrated circuit modelling; interface states; silicon compounds; MOS capacitors; SiO/sub 2/; ULSI; charge-to-breakdown; constant current stress; dielectric breakdown; high-field-induced interface state generation; negative gate bias; physical model; polarity dependence; positive gate bias; scaled SiO/sub 2/; structural transition layer; Capacitance-voltage characteristics; Capacitors; Degradation; Design for quality; Dielectric breakdown; Electric breakdown; Furnaces; Interface states; Oxidation; Stress;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electron Devices Meeting, 1994. IEDM '94. Technical Digest., International

Conference_Location

San Francisco, CA, USA

ISSN

0163-1918

Print_ISBN

0-7803-2111-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEDM.1994.383334

Filename

383334