Oxide reliability in tungsten polycide gate electrode

Summary form only given. Gate oxide integrity and n-MOSFET reliability are investigated for the MOS tungsten polycide gate structure. Experimental data show that the degradation is caused by the mechanical stress in polycide film. The mechanical stress generates the traps about 50-Å depth from the gate electrode in the gate oxide. Degradation of polycide gate n-MOSFETs due to hot carriers is accelerated by the existence of these traps in the gate oxide