Variable Temperature Characteristics of Devices With HfSiON as The High‐κ Dielectric on Nitrided Silicate (SiON) Interfacial Layer

Variable temperature device characteristics have been studied on polycrystalline silicon gate MOSFETs with HfSiON as the high‐κ dielectric on SiON interfacial layer (IL). The effects of phonon scattering were investigated. Variable temperature noise and electron transport measurements revealed that soft‐optical phonon scattering does not have any effect on the low frequency noise characteristics, even though it affects the electron mobility behavior. Correlated number and mobility fluctuations were identified as the dominant noise mechanism for 1/f noise. The previously reported discrepancies in the application of the Unified 1/f Noise Model to MOSFETs with high‐κ gate dielectrics were eliminated by generalizing the model to include energy and spatial distribution of the dielectric traps responsible for the fluctuations. Excellent fit was observed between the predictions of the Multi‐Stack Unified Noise (MSUN) Model and the data over the experimental temperature range for all IL thickness values. The extr...