Secondary ion mass spectroscopy characterization of the deuterium sintering process for enhanced-lifetime complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor transistors

We have investigated the lifetime improvements in complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor transistors with nitride sidewalls by the deuterium sintering process. We report the incorporation of deuterium (D) at the gate SiO2/Si interface (overcoming the diffusion barrier of nitride sidewalls) and mean lifetime improvements by a factor of 15. Sintering temperatures ranged from 400 to 480 °C, and the D concentration inside the furnace varied from 10% (in ultra-high purity nitrogen) to 100% with sintering times between 30 and 150 min. We performed secondary ion mass spectrometry to obtain the depth profiles of hydrogen (H) and D in the sintered transistors. The measured D/H concentration ratio at the SiO2/Si interface correlates directly with the sintering parameters and the measured transistor lifetime improvements.