The authors combined electrical and structural characterizations with analytical and spectroscopic measurements in order to fully analyze oxynitride nanofilms on Si that were produced in a minibatch type plasma nitridation reactor. The authors demonstrate that for the investigated samples the result of nitridation is different in the 2-nm-thick SiO 2 films compared to the 5-nm-thick films. In the first case, nitridation results in an increase of the oxide film thickness compared to the non-nitrided film, with a consequent decrease in leakage current and an increase in the electrically measured equivalent oxide thickness ͑EOT͒. In contrast, nitridation of the 5-nm-thick SiO 2 films leads to a reduction of both the leakage current and EOT. Finally, the authors demonstrate that the applied nitridation process results in the desired nitrogen profile with high nitrogen concentration near the top surface or the middle of the SiON film and low nitrogen concentration near the SiON/Si interface, which leads to a relatively low density of interface states at the SiON/Si interface ͑ϳ10 11 states/ cm 2 ͒ for nonannealed films.

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Within the ENIAC project "IMPROVE", new algorithms for virtual metrology and predictive maintenance are being developed to substantially enhance efficiency in European semiconductor manufacturing. The consortium comprises important IC manufacturers in Europe, solution providers, and research institutions. A major objective of the project is to make these new APC methods applicable in the existing fab systems of the IC manufacturers which widely differ in the automation infrastructure. A novel framework architecture for integration of the new control paradigms was researched and a software for implementation of the framework was developed. This paper describes the technical details and results of the framework development, implementation, and test