Uncorrelated breakdown of integrated circuits

Abstract

In thick dielectrics, electrical breakdown is caused by the generation of spatially and temporally correlated defects that are produced — as in lightning1 — by feedback between defect formation and local stress2. New defects are created in the vicinity of existing defects, leading to rapid and correlated propagation of field-induced defect chains that cause breakdown. By contrast, we show here that defects formed in ultrathin films subjected to realistic electrical stress remain spatially and temporally uncorrelated, even when multiple 'shorts' (chains of defects) begin to bridge the thickness of the films. Besides their relevance to different applications of thin dielectric films, our results have positive implications for the scalability of modern integrated circuits3, 4, 5, 6.