High field stressing effects on the split N/sub 2/O grown thin gate dielectric by rapid thermal processing

Highly reliable thin oxynitride layers of very good Si-SiO/sub 2/ interface endurance were grown on silicon wafers with a split N/sub 2/O cycle (N/sub 2/O/O/sub 2//N/sub 2/O) employing rapid thermal processing (RTP). Excellent electrical characteristics with reduced positive charge generation, electron trapping and/or interface state generation were achieved under high field stressing compared to pure N/sub 2/O dielectric.