Electrical activity of interfacial paramagnetic defects in thermal (100) Si/SiO2

The correlation be tween the detrimental electrically active interface traps and the electron-spin-resonance-active point defects P-b0 and P-b1 (unpaired Si orbitals) was studied through controlled variation, both relatively and absolutely, of the defect bath densities. Unlike previous inference, no electrical activity of P-b1 as an interface state could be traced, thus questioning its relevance for device fabrication, while all P-b0's appear active. A fundamental reason is inferred as to why the (100) Si surface dominates device fabrication. [S0163-1829(98)03211-1].