Abstract
Using a multiple-stage constant-voltage stress (M-CVS) methodology, a critical gate voltage (V crit ) is found to demarcate the post-breakdown (BD) gate leakage current (I g ) evolution. For a gate voltage (V g ) < V crit , I g digitally fluctuates with no apparent net increase. For V g > V crit , I g rapidly evolves into a stable high leakage state. V crit is found to decrease with decreasing oxide thickness (T ox ), implying that it has a significant impact on I g degradation rate (dl g /dt) (Lombardo, 2003) at nominal operating voltages.