Deuterium Effect on Stress-Induced Leakage Current

We have studied and compared stress-induced leakage current in oxides subjected to H2 and D2 annealing. There is not much difference in stress-induced leakage current between thick 70-Å-oxides annealed by these two isotopes. In sharp contrast, an improvement of several-fold in stress-induced leakage current is observed in 27-Å-thick oxides annealed in D2 ambient compared to that annealed in H2. The significant improvement in this direct-tunneling oxide may be due to the passivation of intrinsic defects and dangling bonds in a transition SiO x layer.