Investigating random telegraph signals (RTS) observed in MOS devices is important for studying the gate-oxide defect characteristics and developing simulation and modeling tools in highly scaled devices. In this paper, we are presenting a comprehensive, variable-temperature, single-to-multitrap scalable RTS model and a simulation tool (RTSSIM) based on the first principles, and supported by experimental data. The physical and electrical characteristics of the actual oxide defects are considered, such as trapping barrier energy, capture cross section, trap-binding enthalpy, entropy change with emission, Coulombic scattering effect, and the trap location. Experimentally obtained time-domain switching data and RTS traces reconstructed by the developed simulation tool are compared for assessing the accuracy of the modeling. In this paper, we identified the trap species responsible for the RTS as an unrelaxed neutral oxygen deficiency center (V 0 ODC II) with measured and theoretically verified relaxation energy of 1.11, 1.25, and 0.60 eV. RTSSIM is a tool used to mimic or reproduce a given noise measurement on a particular device. The simulation tool shows over 92% accuracy in replicating the RTS and trap characteristics. The model also represents the first realistic simulation of multilevel RTS.Index Terms-Complex random telegraph signals (RTS), gate-oxide traps, RTS simulation, RTS, SiO 2 oxygen vacancies.
Unrelaxed neutral oxygen deficiency centres (ODCs) (V 0 ODC II) in SiO 2 have been identified as the cause of random telegraph signals (RTSs) in highly scaled n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor fieldeffect transistors. Variable temperature RTS measurements were performed to extract trap capture cross-sections, capture activation energy, relaxation energy associated with the gate oxide defects, and the trap energy in the SiO 2 bandgap to determine the trap species and type. The results indicate that the electron is captured by a neutral ODC that is transformed into a negatively charged vacancy (V −). This is the first time V 0 ODC II centre is confirmed to be the source of electron switching through RTS measurements defining four different trap characteristics.
Random telegraph signals (RTS) are investigated onMOSFETs where a systematic procedure is developed to extract the RTS parameters from a large volume of multi-level switching events with a Poisson distribution. RTS measurements can be utilized to identify and characterize gate oxide defects with better resolution than frequency domain power spectral density, deep level transient spectroscopy, or charge pumping techniques. We demonstrate here multi-level RTS method to investigate gate dielectric trap characteristics including type (acceptor or donor), position of the traps from the of Si/SiO 2 interface in the oxide, and along the channel, using the effect of gate bias on the mean carrier capture and emission times, and the number of active traps.
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