Short- and long-term reliability of nitrided oxide MISFETs

The short- and long-term reliability of thin nitrided oxide (oxynitride) films is studied. Tests conducted on several oxynitride films fabricated under various nitridation conditions show that (1) the defect density of thin (5-nm) oxynitride film is very low; (2) oxynitride MISFETs exhibit less transconductance degradation due to hot-carrier injection than oxide MISFETs; (3) these thin films have superior time-dependent dielectric breakdown characteristics; and (4) the electron traps in oxynitride film are drastically reduced by annealing in an O/sub 2/ gas atmosphere.<
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