Metal Antenna 효과로 인한 게이트 산화막에서 정공 포획에 관한 연구

Study of the Hole Trapping in the Gate Oxide Due to the Metal Antenna Effect

Recently, the gate oxide damage induced by the plasma processes has been one of the most significant reliability issues as the gate oxide thickness falls below 10 nm. The process-induced damage was studied with the metal antenna test structures. In addition to the electron trapping, the hole trapping in a 10 nm thick gate oxide due to the plasma-induced charging was observed in the NMOS's with a metal antenna. The hole trapping gave rise to the decrease of the transconductance (gm) similarly to the case of the electron trapping, but to the extent much less than the electron trapping. It would be because the electrical stress that the plasma-induced charging forced to the gate oxide for the devices with the hole trapping was much smaller than for those with the electron trapping. This hypothesis was strongly supported by the measured characteristics of the Fowler-Nordheim current in the gate oxide.