Polarity dependence of defect generation in ultrathin SiO2/ZrO2 gate dielectric stacks

The generation of defects during the injection of charge carriers in metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors with ultrathin SiON/ZrO2 gate stacks is investigated. A polarity dependence for the defect generation is revealed. It is shown that this polarity effect is inconsistent with the predictions of the anode-hole injection model, but can be explained by assuming the release of hydrogen close to the SiON/ZrO2 interface, followed by its transport and trapping in the gate dielectric, resulting in the generation of hydrogen-induced positive charge and bulk neutral traps. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.