Short Channel Effects in N- and P-Channel Polycrystalline Silicon Thin Film Transistors with Very Thin Electron Cyclotron Resonance N2O-Plasma Gate Dielectric

To suppress short-channel effects in polysilicon thin film transistors, very thin electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) N2O-plasma gate oxide is investigated experimentally. ECR N2O-plasma oxidation incorporates nitrogen atoms at the interface and forms strong Si≡N bonds. With the ECR N2O-plasma oxide of 12 nm thickness, short-channel effects can be almost eliminated for n-channel (p-channel) thin film transistors of 3 µm (1 µm) gate length. It is inferred that reduction of defects by N2O-plasma passivation and strong Si≡N bonds lead to good immunity to impact ionization, resulting in the suppression of short-channel effects.