Remote Control of Doping Profile, Silicon Interface, and Gate Dielectric Reliability via Oxygen Insertion into Silicon Channel

Insertion of partial monolayers of oxygen atoms into Si lattice leads to modification of formation enthalpy of various dopants and point defects, enabling remote control of doping profiles away from the inserted film. 18O isotope tracer revealed exchange of oxygen atoms between oxygen-insertion layers and gate oxide. This finding likely accounts for 35% improvement of surface roughness scattering rate of inversion electrons as well as 6x improvement of charge-to-breakdown of thin gate dielectrics experimentally observed. Impact of the OI(oxygen inserted)-Si channel is greater for HKMG(high-k metal gate) stack due to modification of interface charge properties.