An extended unified Schottky-Poole-Frenkel theory to explain the current-voltage characteristics of capacitors using high-k dielectric materials

Historically, there is a controversy regarding the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of thin film MIM (metal-insulator-metal) capacitors, which is quite frequently modeled by either the Schottky model or the Poole-Frenkel model. In this letter, the author points out that the two models actually...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lau, Wai Shing.
Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/100826
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/11050
Description
Summary:Historically, there is a controversy regarding the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of thin film MIM (metal-insulator-metal) capacitors, which is quite frequently modeled by either the Schottky model or the Poole-Frenkel model. In this letter, the author points out that the two models actually can be unified. The physics underlying this model involves a non-uniform distribution of defect states such that a very large quantity of defect states exist at the two interface of the MIM capacitor while the density of defect states in the insulator bulk is relatively low, resulting in an M/n-i-n/M structure. This unified Schottky-Poole-Frenkel model can be further extended to include other effects like space charge limited current, tunneling, etc. Evidence supporting this theory will be provided.