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Process Improvements for Reductions in Total Charge and Interface Trap Densities of Thermally-Grown Sub-3.5nm-Thick Silicon Nitrides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Sanjit Singh Dang  and
Christos G. Takoudis
Sanjit Singh Dang
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering University of Illinois at Chicago, 810 South Clinton Street, Chicago, IL 60607
Christos G. Takoudis*
Affiliation:
Advanced Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering University of Illinois at Chicago, 810 South Clinton Street, Chicago, IL 60607, E-mail: sdangl@uic.edu
*
**Corresponding Author, E-mail: takoudis@uic.edu
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Abstract

Ultra-thin silicon nitride films are being studied for use as high-dielectric constant (highk) materials in future gate dielectric applications, as Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) transistors are scaled down to the sub-100nm regime. In this study, process modifications are proposed to reduce the total charge and interface trap densities in sub-3.5 nm-thick silicon nitride films, grown in NH3, in a conventional furnace at 900°C and 1 atm. It is shown that by employing a short (<1 min) oxynitridation step in NO, before nitridation, and oxynitridation/Ar-annealing steps, after nitridation, silicon nitride films can be thermally grown with a total charge density as low as about 2.5E10 q/cm2 and an interface trap density of about 2.1E11/(eV-cm2). Besides, the effect of using NO as opposed to N2O for oxynitridation steps is also discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 592 , 1999 , 213
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

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References

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