Trapped-hole annealing and electron trapping in metal-oxide-semiconductor devices

Thermally stimulated current- and capacitance-voltage techniques are combined to provide the first quantitative estimates of the contributions of trapped-hole annealing and electron trapping to oxide-trap charge neutralization in metal-oxide-semiconductor devices. For 350-nm nonradiation-hardened oxides, trapped electrons compensate ∼15% of the radiation-induced trapped positive charge after x-ray irradiation (evidently forming dipolar defects), and ∼65% of the trapped positive charge remaining after positive-bias annealing at 80 °C. For 45-nm radiation-hardened oxides, trapped electrons compensate ∼45% of the trapped positive charge after irradiation, and ∼70% after annealing. Implications for models of oxide-trap-charge buildup and annealing are discussed.