The development of non-uniform deposition of holes in gate oxides

The subthreshold technique was used to study irradiated MOS transistors at 80 K. Stretchout of the subthreshold curve demonstrated production of lateral non-uniformities (LNUs) in the hole distribution. The LNUs were analyzed in terms of (a) a parallel transistor model, and (b) the statistics of the non-uniform distribution of dose deposition in the SiO/sub 2/. The results confirm the hypothesis that at 80 K the principal source of LNUs is the granularity in dose deposition. The relative standard deviation for the deposited dose is larger for thin oxides, for 10 kev x-rays (as opposed to Co-60), and at low doses. These physical phenomena are predicted to have a significant effect at room temperature also