Hot-carrier degradation of submicrometer p-MOSFETs with thermal/LPCVD composite oxide

Abstract

It is shown that while gate oxides containing thermal/LPCVD composite oxide have lower defect densities than gates using only thermal oxides, they are more susceptible to hot-carrier degradation. The hot-carrier-induced degradation of composite oxides is worse in p-channel MOSFETs than in n-channel MOSFETs. This sensitivity of p-channel MOSFETs is caused by higher electron trapping levels in LPCVD oxides. For 150-AA gate technology, the hot-carrier-degradation resistance of thermal/LPCVD composite gate oxides with a 70-AA or thicker thermal oxide layer approaches that of high-quality pure thermal oxide. >