Investigation of low-frequency noise of 28-nm technology process of high-k/metal gate p-MOSFETs with fluorine incorporation

•LFN characteristics of HK/MG pMOSFETs from a 28-nm bulk CMOS technology.•We investigated the properties of dielectric traps by the impact of F implantation.•We establish the relationship between the trap depth in RTN and λ in the 1/f noise.•F implantation could result in a smaller λ and smaller slow Nt.

In this study, the properties of dielectric traps by the impact of Fluorine (F) implantation on 1/f noise and the random telegraph noise (RTN) of high-k/metal gate (HK/MG) p-type metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (pMOSFETs) were investigated. The incorporation of F has been identified as an effective method to passivate oxygen vacancies, defect sites, and reduce the gate leakage current in pMOSFETs. Compared with a control device, the F-implanted HK/MG devices show that the trap positions were closer to the SiO2 interfacial layer (IL)/Si channel. Furthermore, we found that F implantation could result in a smaller tunneling attenuation length (λ) and smaller slow oxide interface trap density (Nt).