State Transition of a Defect Causing Random-Telegraph-Noise Fluctuation in Stress-Induced Leakage Current of Thin SiO2 Films in a Metal--Oxide--Silicon Structure

Dynamic fluctuation in stress-induced leakage current --- called "variable stress-induced leakage current" --- in a gate oxide of a metal--oxide--semiconductor structure was investigated. Variable stress-induced leakage current is attributed to random telegraph noise, which is associated with the state-transition of a single defect. To analyze the mechanism of the state-transition, dependence of state-transition probabilities on gate current and on temperature were investigated. These dependences indicate that the state-transition mechanism is a defect-structure transition by charge collision.