Stress-induced leakage current (SILC) in ultrathin oxide metal–oxide–semiconductor devices has been quantitatively modeled by the trap-assisted tunneling mechanism. These results are compared with experimental data on samples with oxide thickness ranging from 40 to 80 Å. This model accurately describes the electric-field dependence of SILC, and also predicts the increase, then decrease in SILC, with decreasing oxide thickness, which is observed experimentally. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.