Rapid thermal nitridation of thin SiO2 films

D. Henscheid, Michael Kozicki, G. W. Sheets, M. Mughal, I. Zwiebel, R. J. Graham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

An alternative to SiO2 for gate dielectric applications in MIS devices is nitrided silicon dioxide. A study of this material is presented in this paper. Thin SiO2 layers (10 nm minimum thickness) were grown on silicon substrates and subsequently nitrided in ammonia at 1 atm using a rapid thermal processing system. Nitridation times ranged from 3 sec to 60 sec at temperatures from 900 to 1200‡ C. The resulting films were then characterized using a variety of techniques including high resolution TEM, XPS, AES, SIMS, and electrical measurements (C-V). Higher temperatures and longer processing times resulted in the accumulation of nitrogen at the film surface and at the Si/SiO2 interface. As expected, the electrical characteristics of the nitrided films were strongly influenced by the processing conditions. The morphology of the interface, as revealed by high-resolution TEM, was also altered by the nitridation process, especially for high processing temperatures (>1000° C).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)99-104
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Electronic Materials
Volume18
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 1989

Keywords

  • Nitridation
  • SiO
  • dielectric applications

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Materials Chemistry

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