Structural and electronic properties of Si/SiO2 MOS structures with aligned 3C–SiC nanocrystals in the oxide

Our group previously proved that a simple reactive annealing in CO containing gas produces 3C–SiC nanocrystals, which are epitaxially and void-free aligned in the Si substrate. By a further thermal oxidation step, these nanocrystals can be lifted from the Si and incorporated into the SiO2 matrix, thereby creating a promising structure for charge storage. In this work the structural and electrical properties of such systems with nanocrystalline SiC will be presented. Prototype MOS structures with 3C–SiC nanocrystals were produced for current–voltage and capacitance–voltage measurements. The results indicate that the high-temperature annealing did not damage the MOS structure, despite the fact that the CO annealing changed the electrical properties of the system. There was a positive charge accumulation and a reversible carrier injection observed in the structure. We assume that the positive charges originated from oxygen vacancies and the charge injection is related to the presence of SiC nanocrystals.