Deuterium effect on stress-induced leakage current

Abstract

We have studied and compared stress-induced leakage current in oxides subjected to H-2 and D-2 annealing. There is not much difference in stress-induced leakage current between thick 70-Angstrom-oxides annealed by these two isotopes. In sharp contrast, an improvement of several-fold in stress-induced leakage current is observed in 27-Angstrom-thick oxides annealed in D-2 ambient compared to that annealed in H-2. The significant improvement in this direct-tunneling oxide may be due to the passivation of intrinsic defects and dangling bonds in a transition SiOx layer.