A novel oxynitride processing scheme has been developed to provide improved performance over thermal oxides. These dielectrics were formed by nitridation of bare silicon wafers followed by deposition of low pressure chemical vapor deposited (LPCVD) oxides at 450°C and reoxidation at 900°C. This novel process provides a good control of dielectric thickness and the amount of nitrogen incorporated at the silicon/silicon dioxide interface. It also reduces the incorporation of the hydrogen-related electron traps in the bulk of the dielectric. Excessive electron trapping is a potential problem of the nitrided oxides. These oxynitride dielectrics referred to as “LPCVD Oxynitride” or “Reoxidized CVD Oxide on Nitrided Silicon” also exhibit relatively large charge-to-breakdown (QBD), considerable reduction in electron trapping and interface state (Dit) generation. The dielectric integrity of these LPCVD Oxynitride was also compared to other oxynitrides which were formed by oxidation of nitrided silicon (“Oxidized-Nitrided Silicon Dielectric”). It was found that the electrical characteristics of the oxidized nitrided silicon dielectrics are inferior compared to the LPCVD oxynitrides (e.g., QBD is substantially lower). Furthermore, for the case of LPCVD oxynitrides, higher nitridation temperatures leads to larger QBD. These results might be explained by the model in which microdefects are incorporated into the oxide when the silicon is consumed as in the cases of oxidized-nitrided silicon dielectrics.