Stress-induced leakage current in very thin dielectric layers: some limitations to reliability extrapolation modeling

This paper focuses on the stress-induced leakage current (SILC) phenomenon in 5 nrn thin oxides. The statistical investigation of SILC is emphasized and it is shown that this phenomenon can be directly linked to the intrinsic properties of the SiO2 material. Moreover, it will be pointed out that the experimentally validated SILC build-up empirical model presents some limitations when using this model for extrapolation purposes at very low injected charges and/or low current/voltage levels.