We have investigated the reliability of gate oxide with deuterium incorpora
ted at the Si/SiO2 interface through low energy ion implantation into the s
ilicon substrate before thin gate oxide growth. Deuterium implantation at a
dose of 1 x 10 (14)/cm(2) at 25 keV showed improved breakdown characterist
ics. Charge-to-breakdown seems to correlate well with the interface state d
ensity measured by conductance method.