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Correlation Between Development of Leakage Current and Hydrogen Ionization in Ultrathin Silicon Dioxide Layers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

V. V. Afanas'ev
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200 D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
A. Stesmans
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200 D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium, E-mail: Valeri.Afanasiev@fys kuleuven.ac.be
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Abstract

The generation of leakage current across 3-6-nm thick thermal oxides on (100)Si under electrical stress or irradiation with 10-eV photons is compared with the radiation-induced defect generation in 35-66-nm thick SiO2 layers. The degradation of both ultrathin and conventional oxides appears correlated with the concentration of atomic hydrogen in the layer. Both the leakage currents and the irradiation-induced defects were found to have two components: one thermally unstable that correlates with the H-induced donor states, and another related to the permanent oxide network damage ascribed to H-assisted Si-O bond break. As both degradation processes involve a proton formed in the oxide, we suggest that H ionization either by electron emission or by trapping a hole triggers oxide degradation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

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References

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