This works describes the development of a robust high quality N2O/O-2-grown thin gate oxide for sub-0.5 mu m complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology. Improvements in gate oxide quality (leakage D-0, breakdown V-bd, and wearout N-bd) have been attained without compromising on interface-state density (D-it) of these oxides. Such improvements have been attributed to the light nitrogen incorporation in SiO2 near the Si/SiO2 interface. Optimum lower thermal budget N2O/O-2 oxidation process has been achieved by using a N2O/O-2 ratio of one in the oxidant ambient.