Degradation and wearout of thin dielectric layers during charge injection

The degradation and wearout of thin dielectric layers during charge injection is an important reliability issue. In this paper the oxide field dependence of the trapping and defect generation during injection of electrons or holes is investigated. The generation of slow trapping instabilities during electrical stressing, the charge build-up and degradation during high-field stressing and the trapping characteristics of nitrided oxide layers are also discussed.