The importance of the anode field in controlling the generation rate of the donor states at the Si-SiO₂ interface

The generation of positive charge at the Si-SiO2 interface during constant current electron injection has been investigated at low (Avalanche) and high (Fowler-Nordheim) fields at 295 and 77 K on several differently processed metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors. It was found that the rate at which the charge is generated increases exponentially with the field at the anode for both polarities and independently of processing variables. It follows that water-related and other electron traps have the sole effect of enhancing the generation rate by increasing this field. The role of hot-electron energy losses at the SiO2-anode interface is also discussed.