Time-dependent dielectric breakdown characteristics of N/sub 2/O oxide under dynamic stressing

Time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) characteristics of MOS capacitors with thin (120-AA) N/sub 2/O gate oxide under dynamic unipolar and bipolar stress have been studied and compared to those with control thermal gate oxide of identical thickness. Results show that N/sub 2/O oxide has significant improvement in t/sub BD/ (2*under-V/sub g/ unipolar stress, 20*under+V/sub g/ unipolar stress, and 10*under bipolar stress). The improvement of t/sub BD/ in N/sub 2/O oxide is attributed to the suppressed electron trapping and enhanced hole detrapping due to the nitrogen incorporation at the SiO/sub 2//Si interface.>