Reliability of Multiple Oxides Integrated with thin $HfSiO_x$ gate Dielectric on Thick $SiO_2$ Layers

Reliability and performance in metal gate/high-k device with multiple gate dielectrics were investigated. MOSFETs with a thin $HfSiO_x$ layer on a thermal Si02 dielectric as gate dielectrics exhibit excellent mobility and low interface trap density. However, the distribution of threshold voltages of $HfSiO_x/SiO_2$ stack devices were wider than those of $SiO_2$ and $HfSiO_x$ single layer devices due to the penetration of Hf and/or intermixing of $HfSiO_x$ with underlying $SiO_2$. The results of TZDB and SILC characteristics suggested that a certain portion of $HfSiO_x$ layer reacted with the underlying thick $SiO_2$ layer, which in turn affected the reliability characteristics.