Poole–Frenkel Effect and the Opportunity of Its Application for the Prediction of Radiation Charge Accumulation in Thermal Silicon Dioxide

Abstract

It is proposed that the Poole–Frenkel effect be applied to predict radiation-induced charge accumulation in thermal silicon dioxide. Various conduction mechanisms of thermal silicon dioxide are considered, the conditions of the appearance of the Poole–Frenkel effect in it are determined, and the characteristics of donor centers participating in Poole–Frenkel electrical conductivity are calculated. A donor center level at an energy of 2.34 eV below the conduction-band bottom is determined and the concentration of ionized donor centers of 1.0 × 10⁹ cm^–3 at 400 K and a field strength of 10 MV/cm is found. It is concluded that the Poole–Frenkel effect can be applied not for prediction of the absolute value of the radiation-induced charge but for comparison of the samples in terms of the ability to accumulate it.