Dielectric breakdown of oxide films in electronic devices

Dielectric breakdown is a sudden and catastrophic increase in the conductivity of an insulator caused by electrical stress. It is one of the major reliability issues in electronic devices using insulating films as gate insulators and in energy and memory capacitors. Despite extensive studies, our understanding of the physical mechanisms driving the breakdown process remains incomplete, and atomistic models describing the dielectric breakdown are controversial. This Review surveys the enormous amount of data and knowledge accumulated from experimental and theoretical studies of dielectric breakdown in different insulating materials, focusing on describing phenomenological models and novel computational approaches.