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Characterization of silicon gate oxides by conducting atomic force microscopy
Author(s) -
Kremmer S.,
Teichert C.,
Pischler E.,
Gold H.,
Kuchar F.,
Schatzmayr M.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
surface and interface analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1096-9918
pISSN - 0142-2421
DOI - 10.1002/sia.1183
Subject(s) - dielectric strength , nanometre , atomic force microscopy , silicon , materials science , atomic units , homogeneity (statistics) , conductive atomic force microscopy , dielectric , quantum tunnelling , characterization (materials science) , gate dielectric , photoconductive atomic force microscopy , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , composite material , scanning capacitance microscopy , scanning electron microscope , electrical engineering , voltage , mathematics , transistor , engineering , quantum mechanics , statistics , physics , chromatography , scanning confocal electron microscopy
Characteristics of the dielectric breakdown and the thickness homogeneity of silicon gate oxides have been investigated on the nanometre scale using conducting atomic force microscopy (C‐AFM). The I – V measurements in the Fowler– Nordheim tunnelling regime were applied in order to use C‐AFM as an experimental technique for the thickness determination of thin silicon gate oxides. Conducting AFM was used further to study dielectric breakdown with a lateral resolution below 100 nm. It was found that the accumulation of defects created by induced charges and a statistic path formation of these defects are the main mechanisms leading to dielectric breakdown. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.