A model relating wearout to breakdown in thin oxides

Dumin, D.J.; Maddux, Jay R.; Scott, Ron; Subramoniam, R.

doi:10.1109/16.310108

Cited by 141 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…This indicates that the critical number of these generated defects necessary to induce dielectric breakdown in the oxide is smaller for gate injection compared to substrate injection in correspondence with the results of Ref. 26.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…18,[22][23][24][25] It is assumed that when a critical condition of electron trap density is reached in a certain spot of the SiO 2 a dielectric breakdown occurs as described in the model. 26,27 The electron traps that are created in the Si/SiO 2 system are traps in the SiO 2 bulk, 22,25 fast Si/SiO 2 interface traps 6,25 or slow interface traps ͑also called anomalous positive charge͒. 23 In the case of FNT injection in ultrathin ͑Ͻ5 nm͒ SiO 2 layers it is known that the electrons travel ballistically in the SiO 2 CB as shown in Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Breakdown and defect generation in ultrathin gate oxide

Depas

Vermeire

Heyns

1996

Journal of Applied Physics

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In this work the dielectric reliability of thermally grown ultrathin 3 nm SiO2 layers in poly-Si/SiO2/Si structures is examined. This is compared with a study of the defect generation in the 3 nm gate oxide during tunnel injection of electrons. In these ultrathin SiO2 layers, direct tunneling of electrons becomes very important. An increase of the direct tunnel and Fowler–Nordheim tunnel current during high-field stressing was observed and is explained by the creation of a positive charge in the oxide associated with slow interface traps. It is demonstrated that a higher current instability corresponds with a lower charge to breakdown value (QBD) of the oxide. From these results we conclude that the creation of slow interface traps is an important precursor effect for the 3 nm gate oxide breakdown.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breakdown and defect generation in ultrathin gate oxide

Depas

Vermeire

Heyns

1996

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…For SiO 2 films used for semiconductor devices a similar behavior has been seen at short times and attributed to tunneling of charge between the contacts and defect states in the dielectric [3]. When the capacitor is shorted the charge which leaked in leaks back out which is consistent with the idea of charge moving between states in the dielectric [4]. It can be seen in figure 7 that at high field the current increases approximately exponentially with field, while at low field current must go to zero.…”

supporting

confidence: 71%

High Energy Density Capacitors Fabricated by Thin Film Technology

1999

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March 30, 1999This is a preprint of a paper intended for publication in a journal or proceedings. Since changes may be made before publication, this preprint is made available with the understanding that it will not be cited or reproduced without the permission of the author. PREPRINT ABSTRACTLow energy density in conventional capacitors severely limits efforts to miniaturize power electronics and imposes design limitations on electronics in general. We have successfully applied physical vapor deposition technology to greatly increase capacitor energy density. The high dielectric breakdown strength we have achieved in alumina thin films allows high energy density to be achieved with this moderately low dielectric constant material. The small temperature dependence of the dielectric constant, and the high reliability, high resistivity, and low dielectric loss of Al 2 O 3 , make it even more appealing. We have constructed single dielectric layer thin film capacitors and shown that they can be stacked to form multilayered structures with no loss in yield for a given capacitance. Control of film growth morphology is critical for achieving the smooth, high quality interfaces between metal and dielectric necessary for device operation at high electric fields. Most importantly, high rate deposition with extremely low particle generation is essential for achieving high energy storage at a reasonable cost. This has been achieved by reactive magnetron sputtering in which the reaction to form the dielectric oxide has been confined to the deposition surface. By this technique we have achieved a yield of over 50% for 1 cm 2 devices with an energy density of 14 J per cubic centimeter of Al 2 O 3 dielectric material in 1.2 kV, 4 nF devices. By further reducing defect density and increasing the dielectric constant of the material, we will be able to increase capacitance and construct high energy density devices to meet the requirements of applications in power electronics. INTRODUCTIONThe continuing miniaturization of power electronics demands further increases in energy storage density in capacitors. Applications such as switching power supplies, high frequency filter capacitors, variable speed electric motors, and pulsed power sources demand low loss, low inductance capacitors that tolerate high temperature.Nanostructure multilayer capacitors with interleaved films of conductor and dielectric make it possible to pack many thin dielectric layers in parallel. The key to achieving high energy density is making a dielectric layer that can support a very high field strength, since the energy density of the capacitor is proportional to the square of the field strength. To realize the high field strength of materials in a device, it is necessary to make large-area, defect free films, since any defect will lower the voltage at which the device will fail. While the electronics industry continues to develop multilayer ceramic capacitors by powder processing of ferroelectric materials we take a different approach and grow high quality ...

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“…The results of Fig. 7 could be explained with the model developed by Sune et al [12], Dumin et al [13] and Jackson et al [14,15]. The leakage current of the dielectric upon the electric field originates from the electron injected into the dielectric bulk shifting from one electrode to another electrode.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 70%