Impact of thermal nitridation on microscopic stress-induced leakage current in sub-10-nm silicon dioxides

By statistically analyzing 28,800 cells of arrayed stacked gate transistors , for the first time, we examine the effectiveness of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N2O) nitridation in the suppression of the microscopic stre ss-induced leakage current (mSILC) observed in devices on the order of squa re microns in size. We have found that NO nitridation is more effective in suppressing the mSILC than N2O nitridation and is very promising for the re duction of bit failures. The difference between the SILC observed in device s on the order of square millimeters in size and the mSILC observed in devi ces on the order of square microns in size is also discussed.