A nanoscale characterisation of the electrical conduction of irradiated thin SiO2 gate oxides of MOS devices has been performed with a conductive atomic force microscope. The electrical images reveal the existence of weak spots, which have been attributed to the electrical damage induced by irradiation. Although their I–V characteristics show a leaky behaviour, these locations have not experienced a hard breakdown event.
Inspec keywords: silicon compounds; nanostructured materials; leakage currents; atomic force microscopy; ion beam effects; MIS devices; electrical conductivity
Other keywords:
Subjects: Semiconductor devices; Radiation effects (semiconductor technology)
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