Improvement of charge trapping characteristics of N/sub 2/O-annealed and reoxidized N/sub 2/O-annealed thin oxides

It is found that increasing N/sub 2/O annealing temperature and time monotonically reduces electron trapping in the resulting oxides. The improvement increases with oxide thickness. Reoxidation does not enhance but reduces the improvement. The behavior is different from and simpler to understand than that after NH/sub 3/ annealing, apparently due to the absence of deleterious hydrogen. Hole trapping and interface trap generation are also suppressed by N/sub 2/O annealing, though an optimum anneal condition may exist. Charge to breakdown exhibits modest improvement consistent with reduced electron trapping.<
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