Relation between defect generation, stress induced leakage current and soft breakdown in thin (<5 nm) oxides

The normalized stress induced leakage current (SILC) measured when the oxide is subjected to low level constant-current stresses shows a tendency towards saturation at large charge fluences. To investigate the origin of this saturation, the degradation of the oxide has been analyzed using two independent methods: SILC data analysis and a two-step stress test. The results show that, although under low stress currents the SILC saturation is observed, the degradation (i.e., the generation of defects) proceeds until the soft breakdown (SBD) event takes place. The implications for the use of SILC data as degradation monitor are analyzed. © 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.