Oxynitride gate dielectric grown in nitric oxide (NO): the effect of reoxidation on dielectric reliability of the active edge

Reoxidation of an oxynitride gate dielectric grown by NO anneal of thermal oxide has been studied. This process has demonstrated /spl sim/3-5X improvement of Q/sub BD/ of active edge intensive capacitors in comparison to thermal oxide, N/sub 2/O and NO oxynitride. This improvement is believed to be due to the reduction of local thinning of the gate dielectric at the field oxide edge which also reduces local build-up of positive charge near the gate electrode at the isolation edges.