Plasma-induced damage in various 3-nm thick gate oxides (i.e., pure O-2 and
N2O-nitrided oxides) was investigated by subjecting both nMOS and pMOS ant
enna devices to a photoresist ashing step after metal pad definition, Gate
leakage current measurements indicated that large leakage current occurs at
the wafer center as well as at the wafer edge for pMOS devices, while it o
ccurs only at the wafer center for nMOS devices, These interesting observat
ions could be explained by the polarity dependence of ultrathin oxides in c
harge-to-breakdown measurements. Additionally, ultrathin N2O-nitrided oxide
s show superior immunity to charging damage, especially for pMOS devices.