A microscopic picture for the progressive leakage current growth in electrically stressed HfxSi1−xON∕SiON gate stacks in metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors based on the physics of mesoscopic conductors is proposed. The breakdown spot is modeled as a nanoconstriction connecting two electron reservoirs. We show that after eliminating the tunneling current component that flows through the nondamaged device area, the postbreakdown conductance exhibits levels of the order of the quantum unit 2e2∕h, where e is the electron charge and h the Planck’s constant, as is expected for atomic-sized contacts. Similarities and differences with previous studied systems are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.