Effects of radiative processing steps on inversion layer mobility and channel hot carrier damage in reoxidized nitrided oxide mosfets
The effects of x-ray irradiation and a subsequent low temperature anneal on the properties of reoxidized nitrided oxide (RNO) MOSFET's were examined. Irradiation was found to degrade conventional SiO2 MOSFET lifetime under channel hot carrier stress far more strongly than RNO lifetime, particularly for p-channel devices. This is attributed to reduced bulk neutral electron trap generation in RNO. The inversion layer mobility of RNOn-MOSFET's (and, to a lesser degree,p-MOSFET's) was found toincrease after irradiation and anneal. 1/f noise measurements indicate that this change in mobility is due to a reduction in the density of near-interface electron traps.