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Degradation and breakdown characteristics of thin MgO dielectric layers

O'Connor, Robert ORCID: 0000-0001-5794-6188, Hughes, Greg ORCID: 0000-0003-1310-8961, Casey, Patrick and Newcomb, Simon B. (2010) Degradation and breakdown characteristics of thin MgO dielectric layers. Journal of Applied Physics, 107 (2). 024501-024504. ISSN 0021-8979

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Abstract

MgO has been suggested as a possible high-k dielectric for future complementary metal-oxide semiconductor processes. In this work, the time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) characteristics of 20 nm MgO films are discussed. Stress induced leakage current measurements indicate that the low measured Weibull slopes of the TDDB distributions for both n-type and p-type devices cannot be attributed to a lower trap generation rate than for SiO2. This suggests that much fewer defects are required to trigger breakdown in MgO under voltage stress than is the case for SiO2 or other metal-oxide dielectrics. This in turn explains the progressive nature of the breakdown in these films which is observed both in this work and elsewhere. The reason fewer defects are required is attributed to the morphology of the films.

Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:crystal defects; dielectric materials; electric breakdown; high-k dielectric thin films; leakage currents; magnesium compounds; Weibull distribution;
Subjects:Physical Sciences > Thin films
Physical Sciences > Physics
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science and Health > School of Physical Sciences
Publisher:American Institute of Physics
Official URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3265434
Copyright Information:© 2010 American Institute of Physics
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
Funders:Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology, Science Foundation Ireland
ID Code:15579
Deposited On:28 Jul 2010 12:13 by DORAS Administrator . Last Modified 21 Aug 2019 09:02

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