Highly reliable chemical vapor deposited stacked oxynitride gate dielectrics fabricated by in situ rapid thermal multiprocessing

High‐quality chemical vapor deposited (CVD) stacked oxynitride gate dielectrics have been fabricated by in situ rapid thermal multiprocessing. Bottom thin oxynitrides were formed by rapid thermal processing (RTP) of Si in nitric oxide (NO) or nitrous oxide (N2O) ambient, followed by rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition (RTCVD) of SiO2 films using SiH4 and N2O. The stacked dielectrics were then subjected to in situ rapid thermal annealing in an O2 ambient. Results show that CVD stacked oxynitride gate dielectrics have improved endurance to interface state degradation, higher charge to breakdown values, and significantly reduced defect densities compared to control thermal gate oxide.