Junction Integrity for 28nm High-k nMOSFETs with Thermal Stress

Abstract

Junction integrity in OFF-state current of an n-channel MOSFET (nMOSFET) plays an important role. Besides the electrical performance of leakage current and breakdown voltage for source/drain junction, it is still necessary to consider the gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) effect. The test to screen out the yield or reliability concern early demands the thermal stress to enhance the latent defect under the overlay interface between drain and gate zones. It is beneficial to investigate the fringe gate leakage with the relationship of the heat increase and the integrity of 28nm high-k (HK) gate dielectric. As the stress temperature increases, the junction leakage and GIDL effect are gradually increased, especially at the higher stress temperature circumstance.