Effects of AC hot carrier stress on n- and p-MOSFET's with oxynitride gate dielectrics

Effects of AC hot carrier stress on n- and p-MOSFET's with pure, NH/sub 3/-nitrided (RTN) and reoxidized nitrided (RTN/RTO) gate oxides are studied. Irrespective of the gate dielectric used, n-MOSFET's show enhanced degradation but p-MOSFET's show suppressed degradation under AC stress as compared to DC stress for the same duration. Dependence of degradation on frequency and duty cycle of gate pulse is studied. Results show that the degradation under AC stress in n-MOSFET's is suppressed whereas it is increased slightly in p-MOSFET's with the use of RTN/RTO gate oxides instead of conventional gate oxides.<
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