Optical spectroscopy and field-enhanced emission of an oxide trap induced by hot-hole injection in a silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor

The oxide traps created by hot-hole injection in the thin gate oxide of n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor are optically and electrically characterized. Photodepopulation spectroscopy is used to investigate their photodetrapping kinetics. A threshold at 3 eV is found for the photoionization cross section. The effect of the electric field on the emission is analyzed using the Poole–Frenkel model. We show that a localized energy level in the range 2–3 eV below the SiO2 conduction band is associated with trap. It is spatially localized above the drain region of the transistor.