Electric field and current dependence of SiO2intrinsic breakdown

A technique by which the oxide current and field can be varied independently is used to measure the dependence of the total injected charge at breakdown in thin SiO2films. Contrary to previous results, this is found to be a well characterized, exponential function of the applied field regardless of oxide type and thickness as well as of current injection mode. The experimental results are also briefly discussed in the light of the available models for SiO2high-field breakdown.