Generation of interface states in MOS systems

The problem of the generation of interface states in the Si/SiO₂ system has acquired renewed interest in recent years because of questions relating to radiation damage and to the effects caused by high fields occuring in short-channel MOS field effect transistors and in the insulators of non-volatile memory devices. In this paper the effects on the interfacial properties of annealing treatments, high field stressing, exposure to ionizing radiation and carrier injection via optical excitation by field emission and via avalanching in the silicon will be reviewed. Our present level of insight into the nature and the mechanism of interface state generation will be discussed.