Study on reliability improvement for p-type FeFinFET under negative-bias temperature instability stress with appropriate fluorine plasma treatment

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of fluorine plasma treatment (FPT) on the reliability of p-type ferroelectric fin-shaped field-effect transistors (FeFinFETs) based on Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) and subjected to negative bias temperature instability (NBTI). Compared with non-FPT devices, FeFinFETs treated with FPT exhibited higher drive currents and mobility for fresh devices, indicating an improvement in interface quality. After NBTI stress, FPT devices exhibited lesser threshold voltage shift and subthreshold swing degradation than non-FPT devices, which is attributed to the passivation of dangling bonds between the Si/HZO interfaces by fluorine. Si–F bonds are less susceptible to breakage than Si–H bonds. These findings suggest that FPT is a promising technique to enhance the reliability and performance of FeFinFETs based on Hf0.5Zr0.5O2.