New understanding of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor degradation behavior

Abstract

This work provides an innovative understanding of MIM capacitor degradation behavior under a wide range of constant current stress (CCS) conditions. It was found that capacitance degrades with stress, but the behavior of the degradation strongly depends on the stress current density. At high stress levels, the capacitance increases logarithmically as the injection charge increases until dielectric breakdown occurs. At lower stress conditions, the degradation rate is proportional to the stress current, and reverses after a certain period of time. A metal-insulator interlayer is observed to explain this reversal phenomenon.