Impact of strain layer on gate leakage and interface-state for nMOSFETs fabricated by stress-memorization technique

This paper investigates the impact of stress memorization on the interface-state for n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (nMOSFETS). We found that both the initial component of the deposited capping layer and the H released during annealing affected interface-state passivation. The annealed stress is responsible for degraded gate-leakage characteristics. Based on electrical performance and gate leakage, an initial compressive layer of SiN performs better than an initial tensile layer for the stress-memorization technique process.