Impact of electrical stress on the electrical characteristics of 2 MeV electron irradiated metal-oxide-silicon capacitors with atomic layer deposited Al2O3, HfO2 and nanolaminated dielectrics

• Electrical stress on electron irradiated Al2O3, HfO2 and nanolaminate Si MOS capacitors.
• Significant polarity dependence in interface states generation and charge trapping.
• No clear interaction between radiation and electrical stress damages under substrate injection.
• Higher negative charge trapping for irradiated Al2O3 and nanolaminate under gate injection.
• Radiation-induced interface states damage dominates in early stages of electrical stress.

In this work, the impact of electrical stress on the electrical characteristics of 2 MeV electron irradiated metal-oxide-silicon capacitors with atomic layer deposited (ALD) high permittivity (high-k) dielectric layers of Al2O3, HfO2 and a nanolaminate of them is evaluated. The aim is to investigate the susceptibility to electrical stress of the radiation effects created in irradiated MOS structures, paying especial attention to any possible interaction between the radiation-induced damage and the subsequent electrical stress degradation. For this study, MOS capacitors with a nominal dielectric physical thickness of 10 nm (equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) between 3 nm and 7 nm) on different p-type and n-type silicon substrates were investigated. An exponentially increasing stress current was forced to flow in accumulation through the different dielectric layers, registering the evolution of gate voltage versus stress time until dielectric breakdown occurred. Capacitance–voltage characteristics of the different irradiated and non-irradiated structures are analyzed as a function of electrical stress. Different charge trapping behaviors and significant polarity dependence in interface state generation are observed for the dielectric layers subjected to substrate and gate injections. No clear interaction between radiation and electrical stress damages is noticed under substrate injection (n-type samples). However, higher negative charge trapping near the metal/dielectric interface is registered for the irradiated Al2O3 and nanolaminate layers subjected to gate injection and, in the case of the most irradiated samples, the radiation-induced interface states damage is found to dominate against the damage generated in early stages of the electrical stress.