Impact of carbon-doping on time dependent dielectric breakdown of SiO2-based films

Abstract

Impact of carbon-doping on time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) of three SiO2-based films was investigated under two different breakdown mechanisms, one involving Cu ion injection and the other caused by intrinsic dielectric degradation without Cu injection. In the case of breakdown dominated by dielectric degradation, an undoped SiO2 film shows better TDDB performance than the two other carbon-doped SiO2 or organo-silicate glass films, suggesting that carbon-doping makes the films weaker for dielectric breakdown. In contrast, in the case of breakdown involving Cu ion injection, the two carbon-doped films show better TDDB performance than the undoped SiO2, suggesting that the presence of the carbon slows down Cu ion injection and therefore leads to less TDDB degradation.