Common origin for electron and hole traps in MOS devices

Experimental evidence is provided to show that many electron and hole traps found in ultraclean and annealed SiO
2
layers are related to intrinsic oxygen deficient defects. These trapping sites are found to play a dominant role in low-field oxide breakdown, radiation sensitivity, and interface state generation in MOS devices. The saturation of SiO
2
with oxygen leads to the elimination of a large number of these traps and to the stabilization of SiO
2
layers for use in submicrometer devices.