Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2011
This work describes an orthogonal array (OA8) designed experiment involving several insitu process perturbations during oxidation to develop a 90 Å gate oxide for 0.5μm CMOS technology. The biggest impactors were (i) the insitu preoxidation anneal at oxidation temperature, Tox, (ii) 90% N2 dilution of the ambient during ramp-up, and (iii) lowering the Tox to 850°C. Significant improvements in leakage, breakdown, and wear-out characteristics of the oxide are probably due to the reduction of poor quality ramp oxide grown by 90% N2 dilution and improved Si/SiO2 interfacial substructure attained by the insitu preoxidation anneal.