What is Interface states?

Energy levels within the band gap at a semiconductor-insulator interface, created by broken bonds and similar defects. They trap and release carriers, causing threshold shifts, lower mobility and noise.

Field: Oxidation and diffusion

Interface states in the explanations

Questions that mention Interface states (9)

  1. What is the heat treatment called, performed in a hydrogen-containing atmosphere to reduce interface states at the Si/SiO2 interface?
  2. What is the crystal structure of single-crystal silicon?
  3. What is the purpose of the LDD (lightly doped drain) structure in a MOSFET?
  4. Which correctly describes dark current in an image sensor?
  5. In the buried (pinned) photodiode of a CMOS image sensor, what is the main purpose of the heavily doped p+ layer at the surface?
  6. Which set represents the commonly used classification of charges in and at the interface of the oxide in a MOS structure?
  7. Which method, without forming electrodes, deposits charge on the wafer surface by corona discharge and measures changes in surface potential to evaluate oxide and interface electrical properties?
  8. Which degradation phenomenon causes the absolute value of a pMOS transistor's threshold voltage to gradually increase under sustained negative gate voltage and high temperature?
  9. Which phenomenon degrades transistor characteristics when carriers accelerated by the high electric field near the drain are injected into the gate dielectric?

Related terms

Threshold voltage Dark current Photodiode Annealing Mobility GaAs (gallium arsenide) LDD structure CMOS image sensor NBTI (negative bias temperature instability) Bird's beak

Back to the glossary