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Acceleration Factors and Mechanistic Study of Progressive Breakdown in Small Area Ultra-thin Gate Oxides
Published
Author(s)
John S. Suehle, Baozhong Zhu, Yuan Chen, Joseph B. Berstein
Abstract
Two post soft breakdown modes are studied: one in which the conducting filament is stable until hard breakdown occurs and one in which the filament continually degrades with time. Acceleration factors are different for each mode indicating different physical mechanisms. The results suggest that the 'hardness' of the first breakdown influences the residual time distribution of the following hard breakdown. Tunneling current appears to be the driving force for both modes.
Proceedings Title
2004 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium Proceedings
Suehle, J.
, Zhu, B.
, Chen, Y.
and Berstein, J.
(2004),
Acceleration Factors and Mechanistic Study of Progressive Breakdown in Small Area Ultra-thin Gate Oxides, 2004 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium Proceedings, Phoenix, AZ, USA
(Accessed October 14, 2025)