Spatially resolved random telegraph fluctuations of a single trap at the Si/SiO<sub>2</sub> interface.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39446387.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.2404456121 and PMC identifier 11536084.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
We use electrostatic force microscopy to spatially resolve random telegraph noise at the Si/SiO<sub>2</sub> interface. Our measurements demonstrate that two-state fluctuations are localized at interfacial traps, with bias-dependent rates and amplitudes. These two-level systems lead to correlated carrier number and mobility fluctuations with a range of characteristic timescales; taken together as an ensemble, they give rise to a [Formula: see text] power spectral trend. Such individual defect fluctuations at the Si/SiO<sub>2</sub> interface impair the performance and reliability of nanoscale semiconductor devices and will be a significant source of noise in semiconductor-based quantum sensors and computers. The fluctuations measured here are associated with a four-fold competition of rates, including slow two-state switching on the order of seconds and, in one state, fast switching on the order of nanoseconds which is associated with energy loss.