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Current Transport Modeling in an Amorphous Silicon Antifuse Structure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1993

Ajith Amerasekera
Affiliation:
Semiconductor Process and Design Center, Texas Instruments Inc.P.O. Box 655012, MS 461, Dallas TX 75265, Tel: (214)-995-7985
S.Ping Kwok
Affiliation:
Semiconductor Process and Design Center, Texas Instruments Inc.P.O. Box 655012, MS 461, Dallas TX 75265, Tel: (214)-995-7985
Jerold Seitchik
Affiliation:
Semiconductor Process and Design Center, Texas Instruments Inc.P.O. Box 655012, MS 461, Dallas TX 75265, Tel: (214)-995-7985
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Abstract

We have studied the transport mechanisms in thin film (≈ 2000 Å ) hydrogenated α-Si structures used as programmable antifuses in Field-Programmable-Gate-Arrays (FPGA) The antifuse was simulated using a back-to-back Schottky model for a metal/Si/metal thin film incorporating the thermionic-emission diffusion model for the metal-semiconductor contacts. The model predicts the current transport in the low voltage and high voltage regions. In the intermediate voltage range a linear field dependence of the barrier lowering is observed in the experimental results which leads to higher currents than predicted with the image force barrier lowering in the simulations. An important observation is that carrier multiplication is essential for breakdown which is evidence of impact ionization in α-Si. The permanent breakdown condition is modelled thermally, based on the steady- state solution to the heat equation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1993

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References

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