Inversion Layer Transport and the Radiation Hardness of the Si-SiO2 Interface

A brief review is presented on low temperature transport in Si inversion layers when carriers are localized. The characteristics of transport in this regime are dependent on the post-oxidation annealing treatment received by the interface. The previously proposed model of compensating positive and negative interfacial charge pairs, in which the negative centres act as hole traps, is discussed. It is suggested that the cause of the radiation hardness of an interface is a reduced concentration of the pairs and the annealing treatments which achieve this are an exercise in interface engineering.