Accelerated wear-out of ultra-thin gate oxides after irradiation

We have investigated how ultra-thin gate oxides subjected to heavy ion irradiation react to a subsequent electrical stress performed at low voltages. Even in devices exhibiting small (or even no) increase of the gate current after irradiation, the time-to-breakdown is substantially reduced in comparison with unirradiated samples due to the onset of a soft or hard breakdown, in contrast with previous results found on thicker oxides. In fact, we have demonstrated that the radiation damage acts as a seed for further oxide degradation by electrical stress during the device operating life. The accelerated oxide wear-out depends on the linear energy transfer (LET) coefficient of radiation source.