On the breakdown statistics of very thin SiO2 films

doi:10.1016/0040-6090(90)90098-X

Thin Solid Films

Volume 185, Issue 2, March 1990, Pages 347-362

https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-6090(90)90098-X Get rights and content

Abstract

In accordance with the idea that the degradation of the SiO₂ network and the dielectric breakdown are intimately related, a new model to describe the breakdown statistics of thin SiO₂ films is presented. The obtained distribution of failures has been found to provide very good fits of the experimental statistical data that correspond to both constant-current and constant-voltage stress experiments. The fundamental properties of the extreme-value distributions are preserved by the presented model and, what is more important, the two involved statistical parameters have a natural physical interpretation. Finally, the Monte Carlo method has been applied to simulate the degradation of the SiO₂ film until breakdown, and this has been demonstrated to be a powerful technique for introducing second-order effects into the study of the breakdown statistics.

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Condensed matter film behaviour
On the breakdown statistics of very thin SiO₂ films