Title :
The influence of mechanical strain on the nanoscale electrical characteristics of thin silicon dioxide film
Author :
Wu, You-Lin ; Chen, Bo-Tsuen ; Lin, Jing-Jenn
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nat. Chi Nan Univ., Puli, Taiwan
Abstract :
Strain has been introduced into the channel region of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) field-effect transistor to improve its operating speed in modern integrated circuits (IC). In this work, we investigated the influence of uniaxial compressive and tensile strains on the nanoscale electrical characteristics of thin gate silicon dioxide (SiO2) films. Both the nanoscale I-V characteristics and cumulative failure distribution of oxide breakdown voltage at various positions on the surface of thin SiO2 films were determined by using the conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM). It is found that, for either compressive or tensile uniaxial strain, the region in which the highest strain (the central region) exists always exhibits higher oxide leakage current and lower oxide breakdown voltage.
Keywords :
MOSFET; atomic force microscopy; leakage currents; silicon compounds; thin film circuits; MOSFET; SiO2; compressive uniaxial strain; conductive atomic force microscopy; cumulative failure distribution; mechanical strain; metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor; modern integrated circuits; nanoscale I-V characteristics; nanoscale electrical characteristics; oxide breakdown voltage; oxide leakage current; tensile uniaxial strain; thin gate films; Films; Logic gates; Nanoscale devices; Silicon; Tensile strain; Voltage measurement;
Conference_Titel :
Solid-State and Integrated Circuit Technology (ICSICT), 2010 10th IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Shanghai
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-5797-7
DOI :
10.1109/ICSICT.2010.5667393
