Charge Limited Breakdown in MOS Capacitors

Investigations into the electrica breakdown of p-Si MOS capacitor structures have been conducted for both pulsed and continuous voltage stress conditions. The experimental results show that the threshold voltages for breakdown are dependent on the amount of charge supplied to the MOS system. An analytical treatment of the breakdown conditions with both positive and negative polarity pulses has been given. The breakdown under continuous stress conditions up to 100 ms has been shown to be related to the duration of the applied voltage and, hence, the charge injection required to provide sufficient energy to initiate damage.