Spatially resolved random telegraph fluctuations of a single trap at the Si/SiO2 interface

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cowie, Megan; Constantinou, Procopios C.; Curson, Neil J.; Stock, Taylor J. Z.; Grutter, Peter
• 署名单位: McGill University; University of London; University College London; University of London; University College London
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-14137
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2404456121
• 发表日期: 2024-10-29
• 关键词: low-frequency noise; atomic-force microscopy; dissociation kinetics; individual defects; dangling bonds; hydrogen; passivation

摘要

We use electrostatic force microscopy to spatially resolve random telegraph noise at the Si/SiO2 interface. Our measurements demonstrate that two-state fluctuations are localized at interfacial traps, with bias-dependent rates and amplitudes. These two-level systems lead to correlated carrier number and mobility fluctuations with a range of characteristic timescales; taken together as an ensemble, they give rise to a 1/f power spectral trend. Such individual defect fluctuations at the Si/SiO2 interface impair the performance and reliability of nanoscale semiconductor devices and will be a significant source of noise in semiconductor-based quantum sensors and computers. The fluctuations measured here are associated with a four-fold competition of rates, including slow two-state switching on the order of seconds and, in one state, fast switching on the order of nanoseconds which is associated with energy loss.