Post-metallization annealing (PMA) has been employed in silicon-based CMOS fabrication to enhance MOSFET reliability and performance. However, although deuterium annealing can reduce interface traps between the Si and SiO₂ gate dielectric, it remains insufficient to fully passivate these traps. In this context, a multiple PMA process, including additional hydrogen annealing, is proposed to further reduce dangling bonds. Silicon-based MOSFETs are fabricated to verify the proposed annealing process architecture. Electrical characterization of the threshold voltage (VTH), subthreshold swing (SS), on-state current (ION), and carrier mobility (μ_n) is conducted to investigate the impact of the multiple PMA. This study provides a guideline for PMA in MOSFET fabrication, with improvements in both performance and reliability.

Various process modifications have been used to minimize SiO₂ gate oxide aging in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). In particular, post-metallization annealing (PMA) with a deuterium ambient can effectively eliminate both bulk traps and interface traps in the gate oxide. However, even with the use of PMA, it remains difficult to prevent high levels of radiation-induced gate oxide damage such as total ionizing dose (TID) during long-term missions. In this context, additional low-temperature heat treatment (LTHT) is proposed to recover from radiation-induced damage. Positive traps in the damaged gate oxide can be neutralized using LTHT, thereby prolonging device reliability in harsh radioactive environments.

High-energy bandgap material silicon carbide (SiC) is gaining attention as a next-generation power semiconductor material, and in particular, SiC-based MOSFETs are developed as representative power semiconductors to increase the breakdown voltage (BV) of conventional planar structures. However, as the size of SJ (Super Junction) MOSFET devices decreases and the depth of pillars increases, it becomes challenging to uniformly form the doping concentration of pillars. Therefore, a structure with different doping concentrations segmented within the pillar is being researched. Using Silvaco TCAD simulation, a SJ VVD (vertical variation doping profile) MOSFET with three different doping concentrations in the pillar was studied. Simulations were conducted for the width of the pillar and the doping concentration of N-epi, revealing that as the width of the pillar increases, the depletion region widens, leading to an increase in on-specific resistance (Ron,sp) and breakdown voltage (BV). Additionally, as the doping concentration of N-epi increases, the number of carriers increases, and the depletion region narrows, resulting in a decrease in Ron,sp and BV. The optimized SJ VVD MOSFET exhibits a very high figure of merit (BFOM) of 13,400 KW/cm², indicating excellent performance characteristics and suggesting its potential as a next-generation highperformance power device suitable for practical applications.

High pressure deuterium (HPD) annealing is an advancing technology for the fabrication of modern semiconductor devices. In this work, gate-enclosed FETs are fabricated on a silicon substrate as test vehicles. After a cycle for the HPD annealing, the device parameters such as threshold voltage (V_TH), subthreshold swing (SS), on-state current (I_ON), off-state current (I_OFF), and gate leakage (I_G) were measured and compared depending on the HPD. The HPD annealing can passivate the dangling bonds at Si-SiO₂ interfaces as well as eliminate the bulk trap in SiO₂. It can be concluded that adding the HPD annealing as a fabrication process is very effective in improving device reliability, performance, and variability.

In this paper, thermal stability of palladium germanide (Pd germanide) is analyzed for high performance Schottky barrier germanium metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (SB Ge-MOSFETs). Pd germanide Schottky barrier diodes were fabricated on n-type Ge-on-Si substrates and the formed Pd germanide shows thermal immunity up to 450℃. The barrier height of Pd germanide is also characterized using two methods. It is shown that Pd germanide contact has electron Schottky barrier height of 0.569∼0.631 eV and work function of 4.699∼4.761 eV, respectively. Pd germanide is promising for the nanoscale Schottky barrier Ge channel MOSFETs.

In this work, we investigated the static characteristics of 4H-SiC vertical metal-oxide- semiconductor field effect transistors (VMOSFETs) by adjusting the doping level of n-epilayer and the effect of a current spreading layer (CSL), which was inserted below the p-base region with highly doped n+ state (5 x 1017 cm-3). The structure of SiC VMOSFET was designed by using a 2-dimensional device simulator (ATLAS, Silvaco Inc.). By varying the n-epilayer doping concentration from 1×1016 cm-3 to 1×1017 cm-3, we investigated the static characteristics of SiC VMOSFETs such as blocking voltages and on-resistances. We found that CSL helps distribute the electron flow more uniformly, minimizing current crowding at the top of the drift region and reducing the drift layer resistance. For that reason, silicon carbide VMOSFET structures of highly intensified blocking voltages with good figures of merit can be achieved by adjusting CSL and doping level of n-epilayer.