Hot electrons in silicon dioxide: Ballistic to steady-state transport

Hot electron transport in silicon dioxide is examined with emphasis on current experimental and theoretical results. For oxide layers thicker than 100 Å, steady-state transport has been shown to control the carrier flow at all fields studied. The transition from a nearly thermal electron distribution at electric fields less than approximately 1.5 MV/cm to significantly hot distributions with average energies between 2 and 6 eV at higher fields of up to 16 MV/cm is discussed. The significance of nonpolar phonon scattering in controlling the dispersive transport at higher electric fields, thereby preventing runaway and avalanche breakdown, is reviewed. The transition from ballistic to steady-state transport on very thin oxides layers of less than 100 Å in thickness and the observation of single phonon scattering events are also discussed. © 1987.