Deuterium effect on stress-induced leakage current

We have studied and compared stress-induced leakage current in oxides subje cted to H-2 and D-2 annealing. There is not much difference in stress-induc ed leakage current between thick 70-Angstrom-oxides annealed by these two i sotopes. In sharp contrast, an improvement of several-fold in stress-induce d leakage current is observed in 27-Angstrom-thick oxides annealed in D-2 a mbient compared to that annealed in H-2. The significant improvement in thi s direct-tunneling oxide may be due to the passivation of intrinsic defects and dangling bonds in a transition SiOx layer.