Negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) in SiO2 and SiON gate dielectrics understood through disorder-controlled kinetics

The acceleration of Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) in oxynitride gate dielectrics is explained within the framework of disorder-controlled hydrogen kinetics. Nitrogen is assumed to introduce deeper localized hydrogen states in gate oxide film, thus increasing the dispersion of hydrogen transport. The dispersion parameter is linked with the temperature-dependent NBTI power-law exponent, while hydrogen hopping frequency is inferred from the temperature dependence of NBTI power-law prefactor. NBTI exponents up to 0.5 are explained by transport of charged hydrogen.