HOT-CARRIER-INDUCED INTERFACE STATE GENERATION IN SUBMICROMETER REOXIDIZED NITRIDED OXIDE TRANSISTORS STRESSED AT 77-K

The hot carrier degradation at 77 K of silicon MOSFET's fabricated with reoxidized nitrided oxides (ONO) gate dielectrics has been investigated. Measurements have been performed at both room temperatures on n-channel FET's, for both ONO and conventional SiO2 films. It is found that the hot-carrier immunity of ONO transistors is substantially larger than conventional SiO2 devices, and that the degree of improvement is much larger at room temperature than at 77 K. While the interface state generation does increase dramatically as a result of 77 K stressing, the dominant degradation mechanism can be attributed to a large increase in the drain resistance of the device due to localized charge trapping at the drain side of the channel.