Reoxidized nitrided oxides (RNO) for latent ESD-resistant MOSFET dielectrics

n-channel MOSFETs with reoxidized nitrided oxides (RNOs) are compared to conventional oxides with respect to their susceptibility to latent damage from electrostatic discharge (ESD) and ESD-like events. It is shown, using both ESD events and simulated ESD events by snapback, that the RNO devices have substantially better resistance to latent damage from such events. The increased resistance is explained by the robustness of the nitrided oxides both to interface state generation and to oxide trap creation by hot-hole injection. It is concluded that, along with hot-carrier resistance, the RNO robustness to latent ESD damage is another advantage of this technology.<>