Influence of the surrounding ambient on the reliability of the electrical characterization of thin oxide layers using an atomic force microscope

Chemical and structural properties of conducting nanofilaments in TiN/HfO2-based resistive switching structures

“…with reduced humidity (<2% of H 2 O). These two precautions are taken to minimize water dissociation and subsequent detrimental effects such as oxide regrowth [22], leading to an increase of the forming voltage, or injection of charged species (OH − , H + ), leading to parasitic leakage currents [23]. Highly doped diamond coated Si tips from Nanosensors are used (R tip = 5-8 k ).…”

Spurious phenomena occurring during current measurement on ultra-thin dielectric layers: From electro-thermal effects to surface damage

“…The water layer and meniscus are not directly responsible for the hillocks apparition but facilitate the dielectric layer degradation and the onset of higher leakage current. It was proposed that the H þ ions arising from water dissociation are injected in the oxide layer and create traps for charges carriers, [16][17][18] which facilitate the injection of current.…”

Effect of Silane Coupling Agent Chemistry on Electrical Breakdown Across Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Insulating Films

“…13 C-AFM was originally used in the 1990's as a technique to investigate electrical breakdown of nanoscale materials, [14][15] with significant effort concentrated on evaluating the breakdown of silica and hafnia inorganic insulating layers for transistor gate applications. [16][17][18][19][20][21] More recently, C-AFM breakdown measurements have been performed on nanoscale organic insulator systems. [22][23] For several reasons, we believe that C-AFM is an effective method for evaluating dielectric breakdown on nanoscale thin films: multiple I-V curves can be collected with relative ease through automated routines, the high lateral resolution allows avoidance of obvious defects, and the choice of a solid doped diamond tip, in combination with a current limiting resistor, affords a relatively reliable electrode geometry.…”

“…For example, high electric fields can be found close to filler particles or defects in a matrix because of dielectric constant mismatch as found in nanocomposites. , As smaller insulator volumes are probed, fewer defects are encountered, which tends to increase the breakdown strength toward an ultimate intrinsic limit . C-AFM was originally used in the 1990s as a technique to investigate electrical breakdown of nanoscale materials, , with significant effort concentrated on evaluating the breakdown of silica and hafnia inorganic insulating layers for transistor gate applications. − More recently, C-AFM breakdown measurements have been performed on nanoscale organic insulator systems. , For several reasons, we believe that C-AFM is an effective method for evaluating dielectric breakdown on nanoscale thin films: multiple I – V curves can be collected with relative ease through automated routines, the high lateral resolution allows avoidance of obvious defects, and the choice of a solid doped diamond tip, in combination with a current limiting resistor, affords a relatively reliable electrode geometry. Additionally, if a constant, small contact force (<10 nN) is applied by the tip to the SAM, the organic molecules have been shown not to deform appreciably. ,, Other methods of conducting breakdown investigations on SAM-coated surfaces can involve metal evaporation through a shadow mask, which may more closely approximate practical device fabrication conditions than C-AFM; the technique can lead to diffusion of metal atoms into the SAM, thereby increasing the probability that defects are measured, rather than intrinsic electrical properties.…”