Temperature dependence of TDDB characteristics of thin SiO/sub 2/ film for flash memory

Using a large area capacitor, the temperature dependence of TDDB characteristics for various electric fields was investigated in detail. From the experimental results, it is found that the Qbd value is more dependent on temperature rather than on the electric field. It is also found that the initial breakdown region is divided into two parts, above 175/spl deg/C, the activation energy of the front part-of the initial breakdown region is greater than the intrinsic region. It should be possible to use this newly obtained result efficiently to estimate the extrinsic breakdown distribution within a short period during the burn-in test. Therefore, the findings should contribute to the improvement of the reliability of the actual device.