Abstract
Through scanning tunneling microscopy, the rate of electrical stress induced trap generation in the vicinity of the tip/high-kappa interface of the Sc2O3/La2O3/SiOx gate stack is observed to be much higher than that at the SiOx/Si interface, implying that the former is more susceptible to electrical stress induced wear out. This polarity dependence is discussed in the context of current trap generation models and is shown to be best explained by anode hot-hole effect induced by inherently lower surface plasmon threshold energy at the metal/high-kappa interface and a higher hole trapping rate in the relatively thick high-kappa.