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Effects of moisture on Fowler–Nordheim characterization of thin silicon-oxide films

1999; American Institute of Physics; Volume: 17; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1116/1.581941

1520-8559

Charles A. Peterson, Richard K. Workman, Dror Sarid, Bert Vermeire, H.G. Parks, D. Adderton, Peter Maivald,

Near-Field Optical Microscopy

A conducting-tip atomic force microscope was used as a Fowler–Nordheim characterization tool of thin silicon oxides. The system was operated under a controlled environment using novel cantilevers fabricated from platinum/iridium wire and nickel foil. With this tool, humidity-dependent field-induced oxidation of the samples and variations in the tunneling current due to uneven water layer coverage were investigated. It is shown that baking the samples and characterizing them under a dry environment alleviates problems arising from the humid environment.