Time-dependent breakdown of Ultra-thin SiO 2 gate dielectrics under pulsed biased stress

Bin Wang; John S. Suehle; Eric M. Vogel; Joseph B. Bernstein

doi:10.1109/55.919236

Time-dependent breakdown of Ultra-thin SiO ₂ gate dielectrics under pulsed biased stress

Bin Wang, John S. Suehle, Eric M. Vogel, Joseph B. Bernstein

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ultra-thin SiO ₂ films (t _ox ∼ 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 _BD), the number of defects at breakdown (N _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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	224-226
Number of pages	3
Journal	IEEE Electron Device Letters
Volume	22
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/55.919236
State	Published - May 2001
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

CMOS
Defect generation
Reliability
Silicon dioxide
Time dependent dielectric breakdown

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10.1109/55.919236

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abstract = "Ultra-thin SiO 2 films (t ox ∼ 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 BD), the number of defects at breakdown (N 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.",

keywords = "CMOS, Defect generation, Reliability, Silicon dioxide, Time dependent dielectric breakdown",

author = "Bin Wang and Suehle, {John S.} and Vogel, {Eric M.} and Bernstein, {Joseph B.}",

note = "Funding Information: Manuscript received January 8, 2001; revised February 15, 2001. This work was supported by the NIST Office of Microelectronic Programs. The review of this paper was arranged by Editor K. De Meyer. B. Wang and J. B. Bernstein are with the Center for Reliability Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA. J. S. Suehle and E. M. Vogel are with the Semiconductor Electronics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 USA. Publisher Item Identifier S 0741-3106(01)03707-7.",

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AU - Wang, Bin

AU - Suehle, John S.

AU - Vogel, Eric M.

AU - Bernstein, Joseph B.

N1 - Funding Information: Manuscript received January 8, 2001; revised February 15, 2001. This work was supported by the NIST Office of Microelectronic Programs. The review of this paper was arranged by Editor K. De Meyer. B. Wang and J. B. Bernstein are with the Center for Reliability Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA. J. S. Suehle and E. M. Vogel are with the Semiconductor Electronics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 USA. Publisher Item Identifier S 0741-3106(01)03707-7.

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N2 - Ultra-thin SiO 2 films (t ox ∼ 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 BD), the number of defects at breakdown (N 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.

AB - Ultra-thin SiO 2 films (t ox ∼ 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 BD), the number of defects at breakdown (N 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.

KW - CMOS

KW - Defect generation

KW - Reliability

KW - Silicon dioxide

KW - Time dependent dielectric breakdown

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Time-dependent breakdown of Ultra-thin SiO ₂ gate dielectrics under pulsed biased stress

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Keywords

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