Effects of post-oxidation annealing on 3nm-thick low-temperature-grown gate oxide

The reduction of the oxidation temperature is effective for atomically-controlled gate oxide growth. We focus the effects of post-oxidation annealing on oxides grown at a low temperature from 650 to 850 degrees C. The N-2 annealing drastically decreased the leakage current at the low gate voltage below 1.5 V. The interface trap density was also reduced by the N, annealing. We confirmed the correlation between the interface trap density and the leakage current at a low voltage below 1.5 V. We also found that the stressing immunity of the ultrathin oxides grown at a low temperature, 650 degrees C, is dramatically improved by post-oxidation annealing at 850 degrees C.