On positive charge annihilation and stress-induced leakage current decrease

Stress-induced leakage current (SILC) has several components. One of these components increases when the oxide thickness decreases. We show that this component can be reduced by application of a low field of opposite polarity to the stress field or by temperature annealing. When a positive charge is present in the oxide, this charge is also reduced. We show that these two effects are independent.