Thickness and other effects on oxide and interface damage by plasma processing

The authors point out that plasma induced oxide charging occurs mainly during the overetch time. There is no measurable additional damage during the moment of plasma turn-on and turn-off. Plasma acts more like a current source than a voltage source. This is fortunate for future thinner oxides. There is a latent interface damage remaining after the forming gas anneal. A discrepancy between the defect densities measured in test structures and in circuits is explained.<>