Comparative study of electrical characteristics in(100) and (110)surface-oriented nMOSFETs with direct contact La-silicate/Si interface structure

This study reports on the electrical characteristics of (1 1 0)-oriented nMOSFETs with a direct contact La-silicate/Si interface structure and the detailed comparison with (1 0 0)-oriented nMOSFETs. Precise control of oxygen partial pressure can provide the scaled EOT down to 0.73 nm on (1 1 0) orientation in common with (1 0 0) orientation. No frequency dispersion in Cgc–V characteristic for (1 1 0)-oriented nMOSFETs is successfully demonstrated at scaled EOT region, while higher amount of available bonds on (1 1 0) surface results in a larger interface state density, leading to the degradation of sub-threshold slope. High breakdown voltages of 2.85 V and 2.9 V for (1 0 0)- and (1 1 0)-oriented nMOSFETs are considered to be due to superior interfacial property. The electron mobility on (1 1 0) orientation is lower than that on (1 0 0) orientation because of the smaller energy split between fourfold valleys and twofold valleys as well as the larger density of states for lower-energy valleys in the (1 1 0) surface. Moreover, electron mobility is reduced with decreasing EOT in both (1 0 0)- and (1 1 0)-oriented nMOSFETs. It is found that threshold voltage instability by positive bias stress is mainly responsible for bulk trapping of electron even with a larger interface state density in (1 1 0) orientation and influence of surface orientation on threshold voltage instability is negligibly small.