Electrical characteristics and reliability of sub-3 nm gate oxides grown on nitrogen implanted silicon substrates

We present a detailed study of electrical characteristics of sub-3 nm gate oxides grown on nitrogen implanted Si substrates (N/sub 2/ I/I oxides). The new results that advance the understanding of N/sub 2/ I/I oxides are the following: lower tunneling current, higher TDDB lifetime and reduced defect density are reported in N/sub 2/ I/I oxides for the first time. In addition, excellent device and circuit performance are demonstrated for dual-gate CMOSFETs with N/sub 2/ VI oxides down to channel lengths under 0.10 /spl mu/m.