The Effect of Hot Electron Injection on Interface Charge Density at the Silicon to Silicon Dioxide Interface

Abstract

The avalanche injection of hot electrons at the silicon to silicon dioxide interface causes an anomalous N‐shaped shift of flatband voltage in accordance with the injected charge density and generates an interface state with widely distributed time constants. To explain the N‐shaped behavior, we propose a model which assumes electron trapping in the silicon dioxide and the generation of the donor‐type interface state. It is also observed that the orientation of silicon substrate strongly affects the generated interface‐state density. The generated interface‐state density of a (100) capacitor has a value approximately half that of a (111) capacitor. The energy level of the generated interface state is distributed near the middle of the energy gap of silicon. The dominant electron capture cross sections are approximately for both (100) and (111) capacitors.