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Multilevel-Injection Characterization of Positive-Charge Generation and Relaxation in MOS Oxide

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Abstract

A new approach, called multilevel electron injection, is advanced for the characterization of the high-field generation and poststress relaxation of positive charge in MOS oxide. Unlike the well-known method of constant-current stressing, it is proposed that charge density be measured at injection magnitudes much lower than the stressing level in order to considerably reduce the error due to initial charge buildup. The method of multilevel electron injection allows one to start examining the time variations of positive charge immediately after stressing, so that it is not necessary to switch the specimen. It works over a wide range of field strengths, from the level of Fowler–Nordheim injection down to short-circuit conditions. The method is tested in an experiment on a silicon MOS structure with thermally grown oxide.

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Andreev, V.V., Baryshev, V.G., Bondarenko, G.G. et al. Multilevel-Injection Characterization of Positive-Charge Generation and Relaxation in MOS Oxide. Russian Microelectronics 32, 119–124 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022608219794

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