The reliability of the gate oxide in microelectronics, i.e., the ability of a thin film of this material to retain its excellent dielectric properties while subjected to high electric fields, has been a perennial concern over the last 40-45 years. Two dominant gate oxide failure mechanisms, dielectric breakdown and the negative bias instability, have continued to cause concern as MOSFET devices have scaled to nanometer dimensions.
By: J. H. Stathis
Published in: RC23844 in 2006
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