Hole trapping in oxides grown by rapid thermal processing

Abstract
Thin, high-quality SiO2 films have been grown by rapid thermal oxidation techniques and subjected to a variety of post-oxidation annealing protocols. The hole trapping rates in these films have been measured by subjecting them to x rays and Fowler–Nordheim tunneling injection. The density of hole traps is seen to depend crucially on the temperature and oxygen content of the post-oxidation annealing environment. These results support recent suggestions that an oxygen deficient defect near the Si/SiO2 interface is the primary hole trap in MOS (metal-oxide-semiconductor) devices.