Stress induced leakage current in ultra-thin gate oxides after constant current stress

Constant current stress induced leakage currents are studied in very thin oxide devices, for both stress polarities. This current has been investigated for both positive and negative gate voltage measurements. Stress induced leakage current (SILC) physical nature has been studied and an interpretation has been proposed, considering local oxide weak spots with barrier height close to 1eV. The increasing rate of the SILC versus the injection dose has been studied and compared with the degradation positive charge build-up rate, observed in the same oxide, indicating that hole trapping and stress induced leakage current could have the same physical origin.