Temperature effects on electron trap generation and occupation in SiO ₂

The effects of charge injection under constant tunneling current through gate oxides of metal-oxide-silicon transistors are studied at different temperatures. For this study, a recently introduced novel characterization method for enduring charge injection effects in SiO₂ is used. Results show that trapping-detrapping sites and saturation of surface state generation are independent of the temperature. It is shown that in the temperature range of -120-20°C, the steady-state field-dependent occupation function is independent of the temperature. On the other hand, the rates for filling repulsive traps, generating new trapping sites, and generating surface states increase with increasing temperature.