Hole trapping in amorphous HfO2 and Al2O3 as a source of positive charging

J Strand and OA Dicks and M Kaviani and AL Shluger, MICROELECTRONIC ENGINEERING, 178, 235-239 (2017).

DOI: 10.1016/j.mee.2017.05.012

Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that holes can trap in crystalline and amorphous HfO2 and Al2O3 in both single- and bipolaron states. Polarons in the crystalline phase have small trapping energies of the order of 0.2 eV. In the amorphous phase, structural precursor sites cause deep hole trapping with trapping energies exceeding 1.2 eV making these states likely candidates for positive charging in oxide films.(C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.

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