Advanced Plasma and Advanced Gate Dielectric—A Charging Damage Prospective

Current status of plasma charging damage is assessed. The impact of wide adaptation of high density plasma in IC processing to charging damage is examined for advanced CMOS technology where ultrathin gate oxide is used. The issue of measurement is high-lighted. The resulting misconception of plasma charging damage is no longer a problem when gate oxide is ultrathin is explained as a result of measurement difficulty as well as previously unexpected longer oxide lifetime.