Abstract
Dielectric breakdown in 2-D insulating films for future logic device technology is not well understood yet, in contrast to the extensive insight we have in the breakdown of bulk dielectric films such as HfO2 and SiO2. In this study, we investigate the stochastic nature of breakdown (BD) in hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) films using ramp voltage stress and examine the BD trends as a function of stress polarity, area and temperature. We present evidence that points to a non-Weibull distribution for h-BN BD and use multi-scale physics-based simulations to extract the energetics of the defects that are precursors to BD, which happens to be boron vacancies.