Chemical bonding and Si-SiO2 interface reliability .A. Minimization of suboxide transition regions, and .B. Monolayer incorporation of nitrogen

This paper addresses two aspects of the chemical bonding arrangements at Si-SiO2 interfaces that impact significantly on electrical performance and reliability of devices with ultrathin gate dielectrics with oxide equivalent thicknesses, t(oxeq), in the regime of direct tunneling; i.e., t(oxeq) < 3 nm. These are i) minimization of suboxide bonding arrangements that contribute to roughness in an interfacial transition region, and ii) monolayer nitrogen atom incorporation.