Electron Velocity Saturation and Probable Cross-Section Area of Leakage Current Path Post Soft Breakdown (SBD) in Ultrathin Gate Oxides

The post soft breakdown (SBD) current saturation behavior was studied on the basis of electron velocity saturation concept by using the proportional difference operator (PDO) method. It is shown that the proportional difference peak height and position of the post soft breakdown I-V curves are related to the saturation current density and the saturation velocity of electron in SBD path, respectively. The probable cross-section size of post SBD leakage current path in SiO₂ is studied based on the defect scattering mechanism also