Features of the Characteristics of Field-Resistant Silicon–Ultrathin Oxide–Polysilicon Structures

Abstract

Results of studying the features of the current–voltage (I–V) and capacitance–voltage characteristics of field-resistant silicon–ultrathin oxide–polysilicon structures are presented. It turns out that the total recharging of localized electron states and minority carriers concentrated near the substrate–insulator interface, which occurs with a variation in the field voltage, is an order of magnitude higher than that of samples susceptible to damage by the field stress effect. The tunneling I–V characteristic is significantly asymmetric; notably, the current flowing from the field electrode into the silicon substrate is several orders of magnitude lower when compared with the current flowing from silicon to polysilicon at identical external voltages dropping across the insulating layer. To explain this asymmetry, it is assumed that a potential barrier in the transition layer from polysilicon to oxide, which separates the semiconductor electrode and substrate, has a height of ~1 eV and therefore always hinders electrical transport; for reverse currents, this barrier stops limiting the conductivity as soon as the tunneling level becomes higher than it.