Effect of H2 content on reliability of ultrathin in-situ steam generated (ISSG) SiO2

This letter demonstrates the effect of H/sub 2/ percentage during oxidation on the quality of the in-situ steam generated (ISSG) oxide. Our results indicate the reliability of ISSG oxide is considerably improved as the H/sub 2/ percentage increases, from the viewpoint of stress-induced leakage current (SILC) and charge-to-breakdown (Q/sub BD/). Such enhanced reliability of the ISSG oxide may be explained by the reduction of defects in the SiO/sub 2/ network within the structural transition layer, such as Si dangling bonds, weak Si-Si and strained Si-O bonds, by highly reactive oxygen atoms which are hypothesized to be dissociated from the molecular oxygen due to the presence of hydrogen.