System and method for characterizing the quality of the interface between a silicon and a gate insulator in a MOS device

Abstract

A method for characterizing the quality of the interface between a silicon and a gate insulator in a MOS device includes the steps of: applying at least one current to the MOS device through the gate; detecting at least one electroluminescent signal corresponding to the silicon bandgap energy after the current flows through the MOS device; and outputting the electroluminescent waveform in the time domain. The quality of the interface between a silicon and a gate insulator in the MOS device is determined by analyzing the minority carrier lifetime in silicon. The invention also discloses a characterization system for implementing the method.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.