Electrons are slowly injected by tunneling Into the SiO2 from Si in a MOS transistor when a high electric field appears across the oxide. A small but significant fraction, about 10-4, of the injected electrons will be captured by oxide electron traps in the SiO2. The transistor will age and the MOS integrated circuit will fail when -1011q/cm2 charges are trapped in the oxide.
Calculate the time to failure when 10V is applied to a 100A VLSI oxide. What is the maximum applied voltage to the oxide film for 10-year life?