Characterization of silicon gate oxides by conducting atomic force microscopy

Characteristics of the dielectric breakdown and the thickness homogeneity of silicon gate oxides have been investigated on the nanometre scale using conducting atomic force microscopy (C-AFM). The I-V measurements in the Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling regime were applied in order to use C-AFM as an experimental technique for the thickness determination of thin silicon gate oxides. Conducting AFM was used further to study dielectric breakdown with a lateral resolution below 100 nm. It was found that the accumulation of defects created by induced charges and a statistic path formation of these defects are the main mechanisms leading to dielectric breakdown. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.