TEMPERATURE ACCELERATED GATE OXIDE DEGRADATION UNDER PLASMA-INDUCED CHARGING

Gate oxide charging during plasma processing of submicron devices beco mes a serious yield and reliability concern, especially when oxide thi ckness and device dimensions shrink to the nanoscale region, This pape r shows that wafer temperature is a crucial parameter for charging-ind uced oxide degradation due to plasma processing, Experimental results from plasma damaged submicron MOS transistors, namely low-level gate l eakage and degraded charge-to-breakdown characteristics are analyzed f rom the point of vie cv of conditions of electrical stress, Laboratory experiments simulating plasma charging, performed at 150 degrees C, c onfirmed that elevated temperature during plasma processing strongly a ccelerates oxide degradation and even at low-level stress leads to eff ects observed in plasma damaged devices.