JENN-GWO HWU2018-09-102018-09-102003https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0037443049&doi=10.1063%2f1.1539536&partnerID=40&md5=e6e0ab50b067bf5b87cd5fbb10eaeb48Repeated spike treatment (RST) was used to study thermal stress induced degradation at wafer contacts by annealing the wafer in inert gas before oxidation. Using RST, the transient effect in the rapid thermal processing (RTP) stage was enhanced and the stress caused by the contact points was increased by the applied temperature ramps. Oxide thickness distribution and reliability of metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices were found to be affected by silicon wafer defects caused by thermal stress.[SDGs]SDG6Crystal defects; Current voltage characteristics; Interfaces (materials); Leakage currents; MOS devices; Oxidation; Rapid thermal annealing; Thermal stress; ULSI circuits; Repeated spike treatment (RTP); Silicon wafersjournal article10.1063/1.15395362-s2.0-0037443049