In this letter, the dielectric breakdown characteristics of thermal oxides and N2O-based oxynitrides have been studied. A direct correlation was found between dielectric breakdown and the hole current generated within the gate dielectrics. The dependence of dielectric breakdown on oxide thickness was also studied. It was found that both charge-to-breakdown and hole-fluence-to-breakdown for the N2O oxynitrides were higher than those for the thermal oxides throughout the thickness range studied (33–87 Å). The results suggest that N2O oxynitrides can sustain more damage before breakdown and thus have superior dielectric integrity compared to the thermal oxides.

This study investigates characteristics of p-n junction diodes fabricated by silicidation through a silicon buffer layer and dopant drive-out process. The purpose of using the buffer silicon layer is to reduce silicon consumption from the Si substrate during silicidation, and thus reduce the effective junction depth. The resulting structure is suitable for elevated CoSi2 source/drain contact in a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor or a silicided polysilicon emitter in a bipolar junction transistor. It was found that boron diffusion is enhanced by these buffer layers comparing to silicided diodes without silicon buffer layers. The sheet resistance of the CoSi2/polysilicon/Si structure does not degrade as seriously as CoSi2/polysilicon/oxide structure. The diode leakage current density is higher compared to diodes without buffer layers, especially when thinner buffer layers and high temperature 1000°C anneal are used.