Decoupled plasma nitridation (DPN) SiON films for short channel complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices were prepared with various rf powers. As we increased the SiON deposition power from 200 to 400 W, it was found that gate leakage current increased while gate breakdown voltage decreased. It was also found that the authors can achieve more uniform thickness and nitrogen distributions across the wafers, smaller off-state current, and better V-t rolloff characteristics from the PMOS field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with 400 W DPN SiON films. Furthermore, it was found that they can achieve larger hot carrier injection (HCI) lifetime and better HCI resistance from the NMOSFETs with 400 W SiON films. However, it was also found that negative bias temperature instability lifetime of the PMOSFETs with 200 W SiON films was longer. (c) 2007 American Vacuum Society.