TY - JOUR
T1 - Reliability of SiO2 and high-k gate insulators: A nanoscale study with conductive atomic force microscopy
AU - Porti, M.
AU - Aguilera, L.
AU - Blasco, X.
AU - Nafría, M.
AU - Aymerich, X.
PY - 2007/3/1
Y1 - 2007/3/1
N2 - In this work, a conductive atomic force microscope (C-AFM) is used to study the reliability (degradation and breakdown, BD) of SiO2 and high-k dielectrics. The effect of a current limit on the post-BD SiO2 electrical properties at the nanoscale is discussed. In particular, the impact of a current limit imposed during the stress on the post-BD oxide conductivity at the position where BD has been triggered, the area affected by the BD event and the structural damage induced in the broken down region will be investigated. A purposely developed C-AFM with enhanced electrical performance (ECAFM) is also presented, which has been used for the electrical characterization of HfO2/SiO2 gate stacks. The conduction of the fresh (without stress), electrically stressed and broken down stacks have been analyzed. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
AB - In this work, a conductive atomic force microscope (C-AFM) is used to study the reliability (degradation and breakdown, BD) of SiO2 and high-k dielectrics. The effect of a current limit on the post-BD SiO2 electrical properties at the nanoscale is discussed. In particular, the impact of a current limit imposed during the stress on the post-BD oxide conductivity at the position where BD has been triggered, the area affected by the BD event and the structural damage induced in the broken down region will be investigated. A purposely developed C-AFM with enhanced electrical performance (ECAFM) is also presented, which has been used for the electrical characterization of HfO2/SiO2 gate stacks. The conduction of the fresh (without stress), electrically stressed and broken down stacks have been analyzed. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2006.10.073
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mee.2006.10.073
M3 - Article
SN - 0167-9317
VL - 84
SP - 501
EP - 505
JO - Microelectronic Engineering
JF - Microelectronic Engineering
ER -