A unified oxide breakdown model for thin gate MOS devices

The roles of hot electrons and holes in dielectric breakdown of the thin gate oxides have been quantitatively investigated in the paper by separately controlling the amounts of injected hot electrons and holes with SHH (substrate hot holes) injection method. The results show that the limiting factor for thin gate oxide breakdown is dependent on the balance in the amounts of injected hot electrons and holes. A novel idea has been pointed out that the cooperation of hot electrons and holes is essential for TDDB (time dependent dielectric breakdown) in thin gate oxides.