The Development of Zero-temperature-gradient Zero-bias Thermally Stimulated Current (ZTGZBTSC) Spectroscopy Technique for the Detection of Defect States in Ultra-thin High-k Dielectric Films

Previously, we have reported our application of the zero-bias thermally stimulated current (ZBTSC) spectroscopy technique to study defect states in high-dielectric constant insulator films like tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) with much less parasitic current which can be a serious limitation for the conventional thermally stimulated current (TSC) method. However, a parasitic current can still be observed for ZBTSC because of a small parasitic temperature gradient across the sample. The thermal design of the ZBTSC system can be improved, resulting in zero-temperature-gradient ZBTSC (ZTGZBTSC) which can be used to detect deeper traps than ZBTSC.