Arsenic/phosphorus LDD optimization by taking advantage of phosphorus transient enhanced diffusion for high voltage input/output CMOS devices

Optimization of a LDD doping profile to enhance hot carrier resistance in 3.3 V input/output CMOS devices has been performed by utilizing phosphorus transient enhanced diffusion (TED). Hot carrier effects in hybrid arsenic/phosphorus LDD nMOSFET's with and without TED are characterized comprehensively. Our result shows that the substrate current in a nMOSFET with phosphorus TED can be substantially reduced, as compared to the one without TED. The reason is that the TED effect can yield a more graded n/sup -/ LDD doping profile and thus a smaller lateral electric field. Further improvement of hot carrier reliability can be achieved by optimizing arsenic implant energy. Secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis for TED effect and two-dimensional (2-D) device simulation for electric field and current flow distributions have been conducted. The phosphorus TED effects on transistor driving current and off-state leakage current are also investigated.