Incorporation of Nitrogen into Ultrathin (<2.0 nm) Rapid Thermal Silicon Oxynitrides

1.8 nm SiO sub 2 gate dielectrics are now in production, and thicknesses as low as 1.2 nm are called for at the 100 nm technology node in 2005. High-K gate dielectrics will have to replace Si) sub 2 at the ~1.2 nm level, due to unacceptable high leakage currents in such thin SiO sub 2 layers. Until such time, thin SiO sub 2 layers will be used, and will continue to be susceptible to boron diffusion (penetration) from the gate polysilicon to the channel region in PMOS or CMOS devices. Thus, before the introduction of high-K gate dielectrics, silicon oxynitrides (Si-O-N) will be implemented to prevent boron penetration. Si-O-N layers, however, do not address the leakage problem, and will not affect the introduction of high-K gate dielectrics.