The strong degradation of 30 angstrom gate oxide integrity contaminated bycopper

A much higher leakage current, a lower breakdown effective field, a poorer charge-to-breakdown, and worse stress-induced leakage current are observed in ultrathin 30 Angstrom oxides even at a low Cu contamination of 10 ppb. T he strong degradation of the ultrathin gate oxide integrity can be explaine d by the tunneling barrier lowering and the increased interface trap tunnel ing due to the presence of Cu in the oxide and at the oxide-Si interface. ( C) 2001 The Electrochemical Society.