Unified model for breakdown in thin and ultrathin gate oxides (12-5 nm)

The breakdown of thin and ultrathin silicon dioxide films has been studied by developing a unified model. It is based on the ability of trapped charges to increase the effective local permittivity of silicon dioxide by increasing the polarization. Results indicate that breakdown is associated with the presence of a fixed amount of trapped charges inside the oxide. There is also good agreement between the experimental and theoretical data.