LUCKY-ELECTRON MODEO

LF CHANNEL HOT ELECTRON EMISSION

Chenming Hu

Departmentof Electrical Engineering

andComputerSciences
U n i v e r s i t yo fC a l i f o r n i a ,B e r k e l e y ,C a l i f o r n i a 94720

ABSTRACT d e v i c ed e p e n d e n ti n p u tt ot h e model i s t h ec h a n n e l
surfacepotentialprofilealongthechannellength
The l u c k y e l e c t r o n m o d e lp r o p o s e st h a ta ne l e c - directionU . n f o r t u n a t e l y t, h i sp o t e n t i a lp r o f i l e
t r o n is e m i t t e d i n t o S i 0 2 by f i r s t g a i n i n g enough s h o u l di d e a l l yb eo b t a i n e df r o mf i n i t ee l e m e n t
energy without suffering an energy stripping colli- a n a l y s i s of t h ed e v i c e .I nt h es i m p l i f i e da n a l y s i s
sioninthechannelandthenbeingredirected toward d e v e l o p e dh e r e ,t h en e e d e di n p u t i s r e d u c e dt ot h e
t h eS i / S i O 2i n t e r f a c t . A c l o s e d - f o r me x p r e s s i o n p e a kc h a n n e le l e c t r i c a lf i e l dw h i c h is estimated
f o rt h eg a t ec u r r e n th a ss u c c e s s f u l l yr e p r o d u c e d f r o ma p p r o x i m a t ea n a l y t i cf o r m u l a .
thedependenceon Vg,Vd and L. T h i sm o d e la l s o
suggests a straightforward correlation with the sub-
11. MODEL
s t r a t e c u r r e n t . By m e a s u r i n gt h es u b s t r a t ec u r r e n t F i g u r e 1 i s a s c h e m a t i c of t h e d e v i c e c o n i i g -
one may b e a b l e t o r e p l a c e o r s u p p l e m e n t l o n g - t e r m u r a t i o n and t h e p r o j e c t o r y o f a n e m i t t e d h o t e l e c -
stress test f o r s t u d y i n g a component of c h a n n e lh o t t r o n .F i g u r e 2 p l o t st h ep r o j e c t o r yi nt h ee n e r g y -
electronemissionthatcausesinstabilitybutdoes d i s t a n c es p a c e . I f a ne l e c t r o nt r a v e l s a distance
n o t showup i nt h eg a t ec u r r e n t . Theluckyelec- d w i t h o u ts u f f e r i n ga ne n e r g yr o b b i n gc o l l i s i o n , it
t r o n model s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e c h a n n e l h o t e l e c t r o n w o u l dp o s e s ss u f f i c i e n te n e r g yt oe n t e rS i 0 2 . The
e f f e c t w o u l db en e g l i g i b l ei f Vd-V, i s l e s s t h a n p r o b a b i l i t yo ft h i s event i s e-d/A,where X i s some
2 . 5 v o l t no matter how small t h e c h a n n e l l e n g t h o r mean f r e e p a t h o f h o t e l e c t r o n s andhasbeendeter-
junctiondepth. mined t o b e 9 1 d a t room t e m p e r a t u r e( 4 ) . Presum-
a b l y ,t h ed o m i n a t i n gs c a t t e r i n g mechanism i s t h e
o p t i c a l phonon s c a t t e r i n g .C l e a r l y d i s determined
I. INTRODUCTION by t h e p o t e n t i a l - d i s t a n c e p r o f i l e and t h e e f f e c t i v e
b a r r i e r h e i g h t a t t h ep o i n to fr e d i r e c t i n gc o l l i -
C h a n n e lh o te l e c t r o ne m i s s i o n i s e x p e c t e dt o sion,
be a p o t e n t i a l t h r e a t t o t h e l o n g term r e l i a b i l i t y
o fs h o r tc h a n n e ld e v i c e s( 1 ) . On t h eo t h e rh a n d , a
c l a s s o f PROM's u t i l i z e t h e phenomena as t h e w r i t -
i n g mechanism ( 2 ) . Under s u i t a b l ec o n d i t i o n st h e
hotchannelelectronemission may b e d i r e c t l y
where Eo, i s t h e o x i d e f i e l d a n d t h e e f f e c t s of
measured as t h eg a t ec u r r e n t .E x t e n s i v ee x p e r i m e n -
barrierloweringandtunnelinghavebeenincluded :h).
t a l d a t ao nt h eg a t ec u r r e n th a v eb e e ng a t h e r e d and
I nt h i sp a p e r ,f o rs i m p l i c i t y , w e s h a l l assume
r e p o r t e d (1).
d = $B/E,where E is t h ee l e c t r i cf i e l da l o n gt h e
l e n g t hd i r e c t i o nn e a rt h es u r f a c eo ft h ec h a n n e l .
M o d e l i n go ft h eg a t ec u r r e n th a sb e e nh i n d e r e d
by t h e l a r g e number o f v a r i a b l e s i n v o l v e d a n d t h e
I fa ne l e c t r o n i s t ob ee m i t t e d , i t s momentum
inabilitytoverifytheindividualbuildingblocks
m u s tb er e d i r e c t e dt o w a r dt h eS i / S i 0 2i n t e r f a c e by
o f t h em o d e l . A p r e v i o u sg a t ec u r r e n t model (3)
anintra-orinter-valleyacoustic phonon s c a t t e r -
p r o b a b l yi n c o r r e c t l ya t t r i b u t e dt h ef a l l - o f fo f
i n g .F o rs i m p l i c i t y ,t h i ss c a t t e r i n ge v e n t is
g a t ec u r r e n t a t v g < v dt ot h ed e c r e a s eo fc h a n n e l
assumed e l a s t i c . An e l e c t r o nt h a tp o s e s s e se x a c t l y
current.
t h e e n e r g y $ B would b e e m i t t e d o n l y i f i t s momentum
i s r e d i r e c t e di n t oa ni n f i n i t e s i m a l l y small s o l i d
T h i sp a p e rp r e s e n t s a relativelysimplemodel,
whose c e n t r a l p r e m i s e i s t h e " l u c k y e l e c t r o n model"
anglenormaltotheinterface -- w i t h a p r o b a b i l i t y
a p p r o a c h i n gz e r o . An e l e c t r o np o s e s s i n ge n e r g y @B
originallyintroducedandverifiedforthe sub-.
s t r a t e h o te l e c t r o ne m i s s i o n( 4 ) . The m o d i f i c a t i o n
+ A $ w o u l d ,d u et og e o m e t r i c a lc o n s i d e r a t i o no n l y
a n da s s u m i n gi s o t r o p i cr e d i r e c t i n gc o l l i s i o n s ,h a v e
n e e d e df o rc h a n n e lh o te l e c t r o ne m i s s i o n i s t o re-
q u i r et h a ta ne l e c t r o ng a i n ss u f f i c i e n te n e r g yf r o m
t h i sp r o b a b i l i t yo f s r m o u n t i n gt h eb a r r i e r (5) --
112 - 1/2(l+A$/$B)-1y2. The p r o d u c to ft h i s
thefieldinthechannel & b e r e d i r e c t e d by a n p r o b a b i l i t y andexp - ($B +A$)/EA e x h i b i t s a peak
a c o u s t i c phonon s c a t t e r i n gt o w a r dt h eS i / S i O 2i n t e r -
f a c e .A l s oc o n s i d e r e dh e r e are t h ee l e c t r o n momen-
tum d i r e c t i o n a t t h e i n t e r f a c e a n d t h e s c a t t e r i n g
in the finite distance between t h e p o i n t o f r e d i r -
ectingcollisionandtheinterface and i n t h e image
f o r c ep o t e n t i a l w e l l i n t h e o x i d e ( 5 ) . The o n l y

2.4
22 CH1504-0/79/0000-0022$00.75 @ 1979 IEEE
a t A$ = m. The exponent i n Eq. 2 i s t y p i c -
a l l y b e t w e e n 1.1 and1.2dIX.With t h i s A # , a ne l e c -
I n d e r i v i n g Eq. 9 , w e haveuseddE/dy * qNs/E from
Eq. 8. X, i s t h e mean f r e ep a t hb e t w e e nr e d i r e c t i n g
troncouldsurmountthebarrierifthedirectionof collisions. E ,, is t h ef i e l de v a l u a t e df r o m Eq. 6
r e d i r e c t e d momentum is w i t h i n cOs-'[$B/ ($B+A#) ] = 30" o r 8 a t t h e maximum e m i s s i o n l o c a t i o n w h e r e V = Vm;
fromthenormaltotheinterface. and vm = vd i f vd < vg; vm = vg i f vg < v d . I n t h e
l a s t c a s e , i t is assumed t h a t c h a n n e l e l e c t r o n
The p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t a n e n e r g y s t r i p p i n g c o l l i - e m i s s i o n is n e g l i g i b l e w h e r e v e r V > Vg b e c a u s e t h e
siondoesnotoccurbetweenthepointofredirecting effectivebarriertotheelectron i s no l o n g e r$ B
collision and the interface i s approximately b u t # B + V - V ~ and even more importantly the poten-
t i a l "well" w i d t h i n Eq.5 i s now t h e t o t a l o x i d e
t h i c k n e s s .E q u a t i o n 9 o v e r e s t i m a t e st h ee f f e c t s of
t h eo x i d ef i e l dt h r o u g hP 1 , P 2 and $B. It i s a c t -
u a l l y more a c c u r a t e i f o n e t a k e s t h e v a l u e s o f P l r P 2
a n d$ Bc o r r e s p o n d i n gt o a c o n s t a n t small v a l u e o f
V g - V such as 1 v o l t .

Equation 3 is derivedbyassumingelectronquasi- 111. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

equilibriumneartheSisurfaceand is p l o t t e d i n
Fig. 3 . IGof a series o f e x p e r i m e n t a l d e v i c e s h a v e
b e e nm e a s u r e da n dp l o t t e di nF i g s . 4 , 5,and 6 . The
F i n a l l y ,t h ep r o b a b i l i t yt h a tt h ee l e c t r o n d e v i c e sh a do x i d et h i c k n e s s of about1000 b, j u n c -
doesnotsuffer a c o l l i s i o n i n t h e imagepotential t i o nd e p t ho fa b o u t1 . 5 pm, andheavysurfacecon-
well i nt h eo x i d e( 5 ) is c e n t r a t i o nd u et oi o ni m p l a n t a t i o n .A l s op l o t t e d
a r e t h e model r e s u l t sa c c o r d i n gt o Eq. 9 .I d
v a r i e db e t w e e n5 0 mA and120 mA. B e s i d e s K i n Eq. 7
the only adjustable in the model was X , w h i c h was
found t o b e 1 pm by f i t t i n g t h e rnodel r e s u l t s t o
t h ed a t a( a s s u m i n gi s o t r o p i cs c a t t e r i n g ) .T h i s is
where X, i s t h e w i d t h o f t h e p o t e n t i a l well and R
much l o n g e r t h a n t h e a c o u s t i c phonon s c a t t e r i n g
i s t h e e l e c t r o n mean f r e e p a t h i n t h e well a n d h a s
mean f r e e p a t h f o r l o w e n e r g y e l e c t r o n s andsuggests
b e e nd e t e r m i n e dt ob e 34 b. P3 i s a l s o p l o t t e d i n
t h a t o n l y a small f r a c t i o n o f t h e a c o u s t i c phonon
Fig. 3.
s c a t t e r i n g is e f f e c t i v e i n s u i t a b l y r e d i r e c t i n g t h e
hotelectrons.
B e f o r ep i n c h - o f ft h ec h a n n e lf i e l d is ( 6 )

V(V' - VIP)
This,andprobablyanyothermodel,wouldnot
do much good f o r q u a n t i t a t i v e p r e d i c t i o n o f t h e h o t
E =
L(VL - V) electronemissionunlessonehasanaccurate know-
ledgeofthepeakelectricfieldinthechannel.
F o r t u n a t e l y , t h e r e i s a c o n v e n i e n t way o f o b t a i n i n g
where V i s t h e p o t e n t i a l i n t h e c h a n n e l a n d V ' = Vg
- Vt. When vd = Vp, where
g t h e p e a k electric f i e l d -- fromthesubstrate
c u r r e n t ,I s u b . A r a t h e rr e l i a b l et h e o r yp r e d i c t s
(8,9)
v
p
=V'1+Kx
pinch-offoccurs. K h a sb e e nr e l a t e dt ot h ev e l o -
c i t y s a t u r a t i o n ( 7 ) o rt h et w o - d i m e n s i o n a le f f e c t s
FortheregionVg>Vds Ig may b e p r e d i c t e d f r o m
( 8 ) .B a s i c a l l y , K i s s e n s i t i v et od e v i c ed e s i g n
Eqs. 9 and 1 0 o r f r o m t h e a p p r o x i m a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p ,
andmustberegarded as a n a d j u s t a b l e p a r a m e t e r .
In this study, we havefoundthat Ig * BIsubn.
K = 0 . 0 9y i e l d e d
A s I s u b i s 5 t o1 0o r d e r so f magni-
tudelargerthan Ig, t h i s p r o c e d u r e s h o u l d b e u s e -
thebestresults.For V > Vp, t h e f i e l d c a n b e
f u li np r e d i c t i n gt h ev e r y small I g l s . The proce-
shown t o b e
d u r e may a l s o b e u s e d t o e x p e r i m e n t a l l y d e t e r m i n e

E = [F (V-V ) + (E
P P
]
v -v 2 112
-9) (8)
X and 1,.

turnedback
Even more i m p o r t a n t l y ,t h i sp r o c e d u r e
would t e l l u s t h e c h a n n e l e l e c t r o n e m i s s i o n t h a t

b e e np o i n t e do u t
by t h e o x i d e f i e l d when V > V g .
(1) t h a tt h e s ee m i s s i o n sc a n
is
It h a s
still
N is t h es u r f a c ed o p i n gc o n c e n t r a t i o n ; Ep i s t h e fill the traps that are l o c a t e d c l o s e t o t h e i n t e r -
field i n Eq. 6 e v a l u a t e d a t Y = Vp; and E ~ - ( V ~ - V ~ ) / L f a c e a n d t h a t l o n g - t e r m stress tests are n e c e s s a r y
is a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e f i e l d at V = V w i t ht h e f o r s t u d y i n g them as t h e y d o n o t showup in the
channelshorteningeffectconsidereg. g a t ec u r r e n t .E q u a t i o n s9 , 1 0 andIsubmeasurement
canreplaceor a t least supplementthelong term
The t o t a l gate c u r r e n t c a n b e i n t e g r a t e d stress tests.
numerically, I ~ - = ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3
A l t h o u g hn o tf u l l yd e v e l o p e dh e r e , a central
1.5
2.5p
themeof theluckyelectron model i s t h a t t h e po-
I
g
--
* I d " Em 2 3
tentialprofileinthechannel,notthelocal
f i e l d a t t h ep o i n to fe m i s s i o n , is t h e b a s i c d r i v -
Xr 1.15 6 qNs
i n gf o r c ef o rt h ee l e c t r o ne m i s s i o n . Hence, as

2.4
23
longasthetotalpotentialdropinthechannel is
somewhat less t h a n 3 v o l t s , t h e model p r e d i c t s
n e g l i g i b l eh o tc h a n n e le l e c t r o ne m i s s i o n no m a t t e r
how s m a l l t h e c h a n n e l l e n g t h o r j u n c t i o n d e p t h .

We would l i k e t o a c k n o w l e d g e Tom K l e i n a n d
Ying Shum ofNationalSemiconductorforproviding
t h e test devices.

References

P.E. C o t t r e l l , R.R. Troutman,and T.H. Ning,

IEEE TRANS. ELECTRON DEV. E D 4 5 , 520, 1979.

D.C. Guterman, I . H . Rimawi, T . L . Chin, R . D .

Halvorson,and D.J. McElroy, IEEE TRANS. ELEC.
DEV., 576,1979.

A. P h i l l i p s , J r . , R.R. O'Brien,and R.C. Joy,

TECH. DIGEST, IEDM, p.39,1975.
Drain
T.H. Ning, C.M. Osburn,and H.N. Yu, J . APPL.
PHYS., 9, 286,1977.

C.N. Berglundand R.J. Powell, J . APPL.

PHYS.
-
42, 573, 1971.
A . Popa, I E E E TRANS.
ELECT. DEV., ED-19, 774, Fig. 2. Trajectory otfh e same e l e c t r o ni n
t h e n e r g yd i a g r a m . A "lucky electron"
1972.
g a i n ss u f f i c i e n te n e r g y by t r a v e l i n g a l o n g
B. H o e f f l i n g e r , H. S i b b e r t a, n d G. Zimmer,
distancewithoutsuffering a collision.
I E E E TRANS. ELEC. D E V . , ED-26, 513,1979.

Y.A. Elmansyand D.M. Caughey, TECH. D I G .

IEDM, 31,1975.

R.R. Troutman, TECH. DIGEST, IEDM, 43,1975.

Escape
0.6

p r orb aob l lbi t ya b ' l l i t y s

0.4 t
\
Oxide
__
potential well
1
1 3

Fig. 3 . E s c a pper o b a b i l i t i easnedf f e c t i v e

b a r r i e r h e i g h t a t i n t e r f a c e as f u n c t i o n s of
F i g . 1. P r o p o s etdr a j e c t o royafenm i t t e d
the oxide field strength.
c h a n n e le l e c t r o n . The e n e r g e t i ce l e c t r o n
is redirectedtowardtheinterface by a n
a c o u s t i c phonon s c a t t e r i n g .

2.4
24
 IO-^^

/ Experiment01

Fig. 4 . Gate current versus

the
drain
volt-
age for fixed gate voltages.

Fig. 6 . Gate current

versus Vd for
three
channel lengths.

Fig. 5 . Gate currentversus the gatevolt-

age for fixed drain voltages.

2.4
25