01607nam a2200205Ia 4500003001000000005001700010040000900027090001200036245003900048490005100087520089000138700001101028700001601039700001501055856015601070942001401226008004101240999001701281952010301298MX-MdCICY20260521091655.0  cCICY  aB-1923810aThe nature of dielectric breakdown0 vApplied Physics Letters, 93(7), p.072903, 20083 aDielectric breakdown is the process of local materials transiting from insulating to conductive when the dielectric is submerged in a high external electric field environment. We show that the atomistic changes of the chemical bonding in a nanoscale breakdown path are extensive and irreversible. Oxygen atoms in dielectric SiO2 are washed out with substoichiometric silicon oxide (SiO?? with ??<2)formation, and local energy gap lowering with intermediate bonding state of silicon atoms (Si1+, Si2+, and Si3+)in the percolation leakage path. Oxygen deficiency within the breakdown path is estimated to be as high as 50 percent -60 percent . We thank G. Zhang and V. L. Lo for technical discussions and sample preparation, and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing for providing the samples. This work was supported by Ministry of Education (MOE)Grant Nos. T206B1205 and NTU RGM 33/03.12aLi, X.12aTung, C. H.12aPey, K. L.40uhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/17DtZHh34GMAHu9A_DhgKUO_HKW8aD5Z2/view?usp=drivesdkzPara ver el documento ingresa a Google con tu cuenta: @cicy.edu.mx  2LoccREF1250602s9999    xx |||||s2   |||| ||und|d  c29315d29315  00102Loc40708F1aCICYbCICYcREd2025-06-25l0oB-19238r2025-06-25 16:24:27w2025-06-25yREF1