A model for MOS gate stack quality evaluation based on the gate current 1/f noise

In this paper we describe an analytical model for the gate current 1/f noise in a MOS device. The model is based on a simple idea: one electron trapped in the dielectric switches-off tunneling through the oxide over an equivalent blocking area. The effective trap density inside the dielectric can be extracted as a function of energy from gate current noise measurements. The gate noise parameter (GNP) is introduced as a new figure of merit for the quality of the gate stack. The GNP can be related to physical quantities of the MOS structure on the basis of the proposed model.