Time-dependent breakdown of ultra-thin SiO2 gate dielectrics under pulsed biased stress

Ultra-thin SiO/sub 2/ films (t/sub ox//spl sim/2.0 nm) were stressed under DC, unipolar, and bipolar pulsed bias conditions up to a pulse repetition frequency of 50 kHz. The time-to-breakdown (t/sub BD/), the number of defects at breakdown (N/sub BD/), and the number of defects generated inside the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE electron device letters 2001-05, Vol.22 (5), p.224-226
Main Authors: Bin Wang, Suehle, J.S., Vogel, E.M., Bernstein, J.B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dielectric breakdown
Dielectric substrates
Electric breakdown
Electrodes
Frequency
MOSFETs
NIST
Stress
Testing
Voltage
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Summary:Ultra-thin SiO/sub 2/ films (t/sub ox//spl sim/2.0 nm) were stressed under DC, unipolar, and bipolar pulsed bias conditions up to a pulse repetition frequency of 50 kHz. The time-to-breakdown (t/sub BD/), the number of defects at breakdown (N/sub BD/), and the number of defects generated inside the oxide as a function of stress time were monitored during each stress condition. Oxide lifetime under unipolar pulsed bias is similar to that under DC conditions; however lifetime under bipolar pulsed bias is significantly improved and exhibits a dependence on pulse repetition frequency. The observation of a lifetime increase under bipolar pulsed bias for the oxide thickness and voltage range used in this study suggests that a different physical mechanism may be responsible for the lifetime increase from that assumed in earlier studies for thicker films.
ISSN:0741-3106
1558-0563
DOI:10.1109/55.919236