Irradiation induced weak spots in SiO2 gate oxides of MOS devices observed with C-AFM
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.