Silicon oxynitride gate dielectrics for scaled CMOS

In this paper, we present an overview of silicon oxynitride gate dielectrics. We discuss the motivation for using this alternative gate dielectric and describe various techniques by which oxynitrides can be fabricated. The interactions between processing conditions and electrical performance are reviewed, and the tradeoffs between optimization of electrical performance and device reliability are presented. We also discuss some of the reasons for the unique behavior of these dielectrics.<>