The interface and bulk qualities of N2O-based oxides are investigated by means of backsur-face Ar+ bombardment and hot-carrier stressings. It is deduced that there exists a large mechanical stress near the oxide/Si interface for N2O-grown oxide which might result from its initial accelerated growth phase, while the residual stress is negligible for N2O-nitrided oxide. Therefore, in view of another stress induced by the bombardment, the interfacial properties can be improved for N2O-grown oxide through stress compensation, but deteriorate for N2O-nitrided oxide due to increased mechanical stress, indicating fresh N2O-nitrided oxide itself has excellent interfacial and bulk qualities for high-per-formance devices. Moreover, for N2O-grown oxide, the improvement exhibits a turnaround behavior for long bombardment times due to stress over-compensation