Effects of high pressure hydrogen anneal process on performance and reliability in HfO 2 /SiO 2 dielectric with contact etch stop layer stressor

Effects of high pressure hydrogen annealing (HPHA) process on a nitride contact etch stop layer (CESL) MOSFETs is studied. High interface quality by HPHA leads to improved on-current (I on ) and transconductance (G m ) while reliability degradation is acceptable.