On the generation of interface states from electron-hole recombination in metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors

In this study, we have measured the interface state generation rate resulting from the recombination of free electrons and trapped holes, which occurs either away from or near the silicon/silicon dioxide interface. For recombination events that occur away from the silicon/silicon dioxide interface (by using hole trapping on bulk-oxide ion-implanted arsenic sites), we find an interface state generation rate of approximately 0.024 states per recombination event. For recombination near the silicon/silicon dioxide, the generation rate increases by more than an order of magnitude to approximately 0.27 states per event. Therefore, interface states are more readily produced from electron/hole recombination events that occur near the Si/SiO2 interface.