Title :
Role of electron traps in the radiation hardness of thermally nitrided silicon dioxide
Author :
Ramesh, K. ; Agarwal, A. ; Chandorkar, A.N. ; Vasi, J.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Indian Inst. of Technol., Bombay, India
Abstract :
A number of samples of thermally nitrided SiO/sub 2/ with varying concentrations of electron traps were studied in an attempt to correlate the radiation-induced oxide charge with the number of electron traps. Also studied were the detrapping characteristics of irradiated devices. Etch-back experiments were performed to locate the centroid of the trapped charge. The results show that electron trapping does play a role in the improved radiation hardness of nitrided SiO/sub 2/, but is not the sole cause of it.<>
Keywords :
dielectric thin films; electron traps; nitridation; radiation hardening (electronics); SiO/sub x/N/sub y/; concentrations of electron traps; detrapping characteristics; electron trapping; gate dielectric films; improved radiation hardness; number of electron traps; radiation hardness; radiation-induced oxide charge; thermally nitrided SiO/sub 2/; Annealing; Charge measurement; Current measurement; Density measurement; Electron traps; Etching; Ionizing radiation; MOS capacitors; Silicon compounds; Thermal resistance;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE
