Alteration of oxide-trap switching activity at operating condition by voltage-accelerated stressing

It is found that voltage-accelerated stressing can change the switching activity of a time-zero oxide defect measured under operating condition. The defect can be rendered either less active or more active by the applied stress, implying a possible modification of its atomic structure. With the impact of oxide trapping on MOSFET channel conduction becoming increasingly important as device dimension decreases, the observed stress-induced alteration of trap-switching behavior under operating condition should be a consideration in the reliability assessment of small-area devices.