Electrical characteristics of ultra-thin oxynitride gate dielectric prepared by reoxidation of thermal nitride in D2O

The electrical and reliability characteristics of ultra-thin oxynitride gat e dielectric prepared by oxidation of thermal nitride in D2O ambient were i nvestigated. Compared with H2O reoxidation, D2O reoxidation exhibit less ho le trapping, larger charge-to-breakdown and significant reduction of interf ace state generation under the electrical stress. The improvement of electr ical and reliability characteristics can be explained by the deuterium inco rporation. The new oxynitride gate dielectric prepared by D2O reoxidation p rovides a good promise for future ultra large scaled integration (ULSI) dev ice applications.