Comparison of enhanced device response and predicted X-ray dose enhancement effects on MOS oxides

The response of MOS capacitors to low- and medium-energy X-ray irradiation is investigated as a function of gate material (TaSi or Al), oxide thickness, and electric field. The measured device response is compared to the predicted response. In comparisons of 10-keV X-ray and Co-60 irradiations of Al-gate MOS capacitors at an oxide electric field of 1 MV/cm, predictions and experiments agree to within better than 20% for oxide thicknesses ranging from 35 to 1060 nm. For capacitors with TaSi/Al gates, they agree to within better than 30% at 1 MV/cm, with the largest differences occurring for 35-nm gate oxides. At other electric fields, the disagreement between experiment and prediction increases significantly for both Al- and TaSi/Al-gate capacitors. For medium-energy (~100-keV average photon energy) X-irradiations, the enhanced device response exhibits a much stronger dependence on endpoint bremsstrahlung energy than expected from TIGERP or CEPXS/ONETRAN simulations. Implications for hardness assurance testing are discussed