Calculating plasma damage as a function of gate oxide thickness

Plasma damage as a function of gate oxide thickness is a primary concern as oxides scale below 5 nm, A methodology is developed to theoretically calculate damage trends, Through a load line analysis the stress condition during the plasma process is determined, and this stress condition is correlated to damage by the Anode Hole Injection model [3]. The calculations show that damage peaks at an oxide thickness around 6 nm (depending on the exact plasma process). Further oxide scaling results in reduced stress voltages and electric field, curtailing the damage.