Advanced SiO{sub}2 process technology --study on SiO{sub}2 degradation mechanism and novel oxidation process for highly reliable gate oxide

摘要

We investigated the mechanisms of dielectric breakdown and of stress-induced leakage current (SILO) in ultra-thin SiO{sub}2, using newly developed investigation methods. It was found that SiO{sub}2 dielectric breakdown is dominated by generatedtraps which correlate with both injected electrons and holes, and that SILO is related to energy-changeable traps generated in SiO{sub}2.For the suppression of trap generation in SiO{sub}2, we demonstrated that oxygen-radical oxidation has great potential for realizing a highly reliable gate oxide.