The nature of the hole traps in reoxidized nitrided oxide gate dielectrics

To find out the nature of hole traps in reoxidized nitrided oxide (RNO), a series of field and thermal detrapping experiments were performed following irradiation. It has been found that not only are the hole traps in RNO located near the gate-SiO2 interface instead of near the Si-SiO2 interface as in conventional dry oxides, but that the energy distribution of these traps is also quite different from that in conventional oxides. This indicates that the origin of the traps in RNO is different from that normally found in conventional oxides.