Interaction between low-energy electrons and defects created by hot holes in ultrathin silicon dioxide

The interaction of injected electrons with defects created by hot holes in 2.0-nm-thick silicon dioxide is studied using substrate hot hole injection and concomitant electron tunneling. The ratio of injected hot holes to electrons is varied from approximately 10^-3 to 10⁰ by changing the forward biased substrate hot hole injector voltage. Increased bulk and interfacial degradation caused by the interaction of concomitantly injected electrons with defects created by hole injection is not observed for the experimental conditions studied. The ability of defects to produce catastrophic breakdown is also not affected. The results suggest that the interaction of tunneling electrons with defects created by hot holes is not a viable mechanism for explaining the catastrophic breakdown of the oxide layer in field-effect transistors.