The leakage current effect of thin gate oxides (2.4-2.7 nm) with in situ native oxide desorption

An intrinsic defect may exist in thin gate oxides. Such a defect can increa se the leakage current in a manner similar to stress-induced leakage curren t. In this paper, we have shown that the effect of this intrinsic defect ca n be greatly reduced by in situ removal of the native oxide followed by gro wing a high-quality thermal oxide. By using such in situ cleaning, ultrathi n oxides can be prepared with atomically smooth interfaces, good thickness uniformity, and reduced leakage currents. (C) 1999 The Electrochemical Soci ety. All rights reserved.