Implications of inelastic tunneling on the depth of oxide traps in MOSFETs assessed by RTS or BTI

The impact of inelastic tunneling on the interpretation of flicker noise spectra and Bias Temperature Instability relaxation will be discussed in terms of a simple man´s model. The impact of various parameters, like the barrier for capture or the relative position of the Fermi level with respect to the trap level is investigated for the Si/SiO₂ system. Overall, it is derived that the extracted trap depth is smaller than in the assumption of purely elastic tunneling. For larger (de)-trapping time constants, like in the case of BTI, traps at or nearby the interface correspond with deep capture barriers, while in the case of noise spectra, the range of possible defect parameters is more limited.