Fixed charge can cause significant problems in a CMOS manufacturing process, resulting in electrical degradation. Fixed charge tends to be stable and invariant, unlike mobile ions, hydrogen, etc. Fixed charge problems can be caused by many common process steps including wafer orientation, oxidation, deposition of films, carbon, nitrided dielectrics, through-silicon vias, etc. Fixed charge can be engineered through process optimization, resulting in a minimal amount of fixed charge or a targeted specific value. Mitigation and optimization of fixed charge are discussed.