Dynamic hot-carrier stressing of reoxidized nitrided oxide

Dynamic channel hot-carrier stress measurements were performed on reoxidized nitrided oxide (RNO) nMOSFETs in order to determine the importance of the high-gate-voltage electron trapping that occurs during static stress. RNO transistors stressed under circuit operation conditions were found to exhibit extrapolated lifetime 10/sup 7/ times greater than the lifetime determined from static stress measurements at the worst-case condition V/sub g/ approximately V/sub d/. Comparing RNO with conventional oxide under high-voltage dynamic stress conditions predicts a lifetime gain of 10/sup 10/ for the RNO. This finding makes RNO an extremely attractive gate dielectric candidate for scaled CMOS devices.>