Defect instability in ultra-thin oxides on silicon

The instability of defects created in ultra-thin insulator, metal-oxide-silicon devices biased in the direct tunnel regime is investigated. For the case of electron injection from the silicon substrate, nearly complete defect relaxation is observed after the bias is removed, allowing the possibility of re-generating the defects. Modeling the defect generation process and examining differences between initial and subsequent degradation periods lead to an improved picture of both the relaxation process and the nature of the involved defects.