Radiation Effects on the 1/f Noise of Field-Oxide Field Effect Transistors

Low-frequency (1/f) noise measurements were performed at room temperature as a function of gate bias on Field-Oxide Field Effect Transistors (FOXFETs) that were irradiated with 10-keV X-rays and then annealed at room temperature. The resulting oxide-trap and interface-trap charge densities were estimated by the midgap charge separation technique. Some devices also were exposed to 85% relative humidity at 130 degrees C for three days after irradiation and annealing. Effective border trap densities were estimated from noise measurements in each case. The noise magnitude increases after irradiation and decreases first during annealing and then even more significantly after moisture exposure. The post-humidity-exposure noise for the irradiated devices is well below the pre-irradiation noise for these devices and experimental conditions. The increased noise due to irradiation is attributed to 0 vacancies and hydrogen bridge (Si-H-Si) defects in the near-interfacial field oxide. The reduction in noise with room-temperature annealing and humidity exposure is due to a combination of thermal and tunnel annealing processes and defect passivation reactions involving water.