This document discusses the breakdown voltage of silicon dioxide. It contains 5 sections: 1. Thermal SiO2 properties such as being an excellent electrical insulator with a high breakdown electric field. 2. A review of breakdown of silicon dioxide layers, defining breakdown voltage as exceeding a preset current. 3. Dielectric strength measurement techniques including fast voltage ramps and constant voltage wearout. 4. Time-dependent breakdown voltage measurements using constant applied voltages to measure time to breakdown (TDDB). 5. The application of breakdown voltage, where it depends on the thickness of the silicon dioxide layer.

1. BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE OF SILICON DIOXIDE
(Microelectronics Technology)
Advisor: Prof. Nguyen Đuc Chien
Students: Nguyen Minh - 20132586
Nguyen Van Long -
20132393
Hoang Tuan Linh -
20132263
Hanoi, Oct 21st 2016

2. CONTENTS
1.Thermal SiO2 Properties
2.Review of breakdown of silicon dioxide layer
3.Dielectric strength measurement
4.Time-dependent breakdown voltage
5.Application of Breakdown Voltage
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3. 1. THERMAL SiO2 PROPERTIES
 (1) Excellent Electrical Insulator
 (2) High breakdown Electric Field (>10MV/cm)
 (3) Stable and Reproducible Si/SiO2 Interface
 (4) Conformal oxide growth on exposed Si surface
 (5) Good dissusion mask for common dopants
 (6) Very good etching selectivity between Si and SiO2
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4. II. REVIEW OF BREAKDOWN OF SILICON DIOXIDE LAYER
 Breakdown Voltage
 Breakdown Voltage is defined experimentaily as the
exceeding of a preset current
 2 breakdown measures:
- Fast voltage ramp (dielectric strength)
- Constant voltage wearout
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5. III. DIELECTRIC STRENGTH MEASUREMENT
Dielectric strength = the field at which it
would break down
Itr = the current chosen to define
breakdown
IBD = the current at breakdown
Rsi = resistance in the measurement circuit
tbd = time-to-breakdown
Extrapolation of a plot of tbd versus I to zero
time gave IBD. VBD could be caculated from
this technique via the equation for Fowler-
Nordheim tunneling (log(J/E^2) ~ 1/E):
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6. IV. TIME-DEPENDENT BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE
- Consists of the application of a constant
voltage and measuring the time to
breakdown
- TDDB (Time-Dependent Dielectric
Breakdown)
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7. IV. TIME-DEPENDENT BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE
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8. V. APPLICATION OF BREAKDOWN VOLTAGE
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Variation in EBD with oxide thickness
Breakdown voltage =>
thickness of the SiO2
layer
E = V/d

9. THANKS FOR YOUR LISTENING!
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10. Q&A
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11. III. DIELECTRIC STRENGTH MEASUREMENT
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