Defects related to DRAM leakage current studied by electrically detected magnetic resonance

The defects responsible for the charge leak of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) memory cells were revealed by a novel type of electrically detected magnetic resonance measurements. The detection sensitivity was greatly improved by using reverse-biased p-n junctions, which enabled us to specify the defect structure. Two types of defects were identified as the origin of the leakage currents, the spin-1 Si dangling-bond (DB) pair in divacancy-oxygen complexes (V-2 + O and V-2 + O-2) or Si DBs of a different kind from the well-known Si DB center (g = 2.0055). It is notable that such defects remain in the device structure in spite of their low thermal stability in Si bulk. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.