Hot-carrier reliability of p-MOSFET with ultra-thin silicon nitride gate dielectric

The degradation of 100 nm effective channel length pMOS transistors with 14 /spl Aring/ equivalent oxide thickness jet vapor deposited (JVD) Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ gate dielectric under hot-carrier stress is studied. Interface-state generation is identified as the dominant degradation mechanism. Hot-carrier-induced gate leakage may become a new reliability concern. Hot-carrier reliability of 14 /spl Aring/ Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ transistors is compared to the reliability of 16 /spl Aring/ SiO/sub 2/ transistors.