Title :
Improving the electrical performance of a CAFM for gate oxide reliability measurements
Author :
Lanza, M. ; Aguilera, L. ; Porti, M. ; Nafria, M. ; Aymerich, X.
Author_Institution :
Dept. Eng. Electron., Univ. Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona
Abstract :
A new configuration of conductive atomic force microscope (CAFM) is presented, which is based in a standard CAFM where the typical I-V converter has been replaced by a log I-V amplifier. This substitution extends the current dynamic range from 1-100 pA to 1 pA-1 mA. With the broadening of the current dynamic range, the CAFM can access new applications, such as the reliability evaluation of metal-oxide-semiconductor gate dielectrics. As an example, the setup has been tested by analyzing breakdown spots induced in ultrathin gate SiO2 layers.
Keywords :
MOS integrated circuits; atomic force microscopy; I-V converter; SiO2; conductive atomic force microscope; current 1 pA to 1 mA; current 1 pA to 100 pA; gate oxide reliability measurement; log I-V amplifier; metal-oxide-semiconductor gate dielectrics; Atomic force microscopy; Atomic measurements; Current measurement; Dielectrics; Dynamic range; Electric variables measurement; Force measurement; Noise measurement; Surface topography; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Electron Devices, 2009. CDE 2009. Spanish Conference on
Conference_Location :
Santiago de Compostela
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-2838-0
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-2839-7
DOI :
10.1109/SCED.2009.4800474
