Fowler–Nordheim tunneling of holes through thermally grown SiO2 on p+ 6H–SiC

Abstract

Fowler–Nordheim tunneling of holes through thermally grown silicon dioxide on 6H–silicon carbide is reported. Oxides of 5.2, 10, and 14.2 nm thickness were grown on the p+ face of a p+n SiC junction. The p+n junction served to separate the electron and hole tunneling currents. Hole tunneling was found to be the dominant current mechanism through the oxide. Fowler–Nordheim analysis, using a parabolic E–K relationship, was performed to extract a barrier height–effective mass product, ΦB3/2(mox/m0)1/2, for electrons and holes of 2.88%±4.9% and 2.38%±3.8% (V3/2) respectively. An estimate for the effective mass of holes within the oxide was made using both the parabolic and Franz dispersion relations.