Generation/recovery mechanism of defects responsible for the permanent component in negative bias temperature instability

Abstract

The defects responsible for the permanent component observed in negative bias temperature (NBT) stressed metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors with an oxynitride gate insulator were investigated by using isochronal annealing experiments, spin dependent recombination (SDR), and spin dependent tunneling (SDT) technique. Two defects were found in the permanent component after light NBT stresses; interface states (Dit) and fixed positive charges (Dpc), which are closely related. The data support a model where hydrogen emitted from interfacial Si-H bonds by NBT stresses reacts with Si-X-Si structures (X = oxygen or nitrogen) in the gate insulator, which leaves silicon dangling bonds (Dit) and leads to the generation of Si-X+H-Si (overcoordinated oxygen or nitrogen, Dpc). Heavy NBT stresses simultaneously accelerate the formation and generation of new defects, which act as additional Dit and Dpc. Moreover, these defects cause stress-induced leakage current. Concerning their origin, defects similar to K- and E′γ-centers were detected by using SDR and SDT. They are unrelated to hydrogen and can be formed through the breaking of Si-X bonds. On the basis of these results, we propose a model for the generation and recovery behavior of defects and present a comparison with the previous studies.