Fabrication process controlled pre-existing and charge - discharge effect of hole traps in NBTI of high-k / metal gate pMOSFET

Impact of Activation Annealing Temperature on the Performance, Negative Bias Temperature Instability, and Time-to-Dielectric Breakdown Lifetime of High-k/Metal Gate Stack p-Type Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors

“…We have already proposed the cathode electron injection breakdown model for the breakdown of high-k metal gate stack pMOSFETs in inversion states. 20) We have reported that the TDDB lifetime of highk/metal gate stack pMOSFETs in inversion states is determined by cathode electron injection and that there is a common relationship between T bd and cathode injection electron current in the case of the same physical HfSiON thickness. Figure 11 shows the cathode injection electron current measured using the carrier separation technique 25) as a function of gate bias.…”

“…Among the many reliability items, NBTI and TDDB are very serious issues for high-k/metal p-type MOSFETs (pMOSFETs). There are many reports regarding the NBTI [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and breakdown mechanisms [15][16][17][18][19][20] of high-k gate dielectrics and the proposed reliability improvement techniques. High-k gate dielectrics reliability is dependent on not only the highk gate dielectrics formation process, but also other process like such as sidewall formation.…”

Time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) distribution in n-MOSFET with HfSiON gate dielectrics under DC and AC stressing

“…Time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) is one of the most serious concerns regarding the practical use of high-k gate stacks and its mechanism has been widely discussed. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] In particular, the statistical distribution of TDDB is important from the viewpoint of determining device lifetime. This is because the ULSI consists of over one billion transistors and the device reliability cannot be decided only by average characteristics.…”

Effects of Electron Current and Hole Current on Dielectric Breakdown in HfSiON Gate Stacks

“…The TDDB mechanism of high-k gate stacks is not yet fully understood in spite of the many arguments that have been presented on this issue. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Therefore, it is absolutely essential that the degradation mechanism be clarified to obtain a guideline for the improvement of TDDB lifetime. In the case of Hf-based dielectric breakdown, the generated subordinate carrier injection (GSCI) model, [3][4][5] thermochemical model [6][7][8] with an acceleration mechanism by current, 9) and multi-vibrational hydrogen release (MVHR) model 10,11) have been proposed.…”