Theory of transient emission current in MOS devices and the direct determination interface trap parameters

The physics is discussed of the emission of electrons from interface states in metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) systems, under isothermal, non-steady-state conditions. Generalized equations are then derived which permit the determination of the non-steady-state, emission current vs time characteristics for MOS systems containing an arbitrary distribution of surface states; the special case of a discrete surface state is also studied. More important, however, by appropriate plotting of the data, it is shown how to directly extract from the experimental data the energy distribution and the capture cross section of the interface traps in the upper-half of the band gap in the case of n-type semiconductors, and in the lower-half of the band gap in the case of p-type semiconductors.