Quantification of nitrogen profiles in HfSiON films for gate dielectrics

We have performed a study to optimize the measurement conditions for SIMS analysis of thin HfSiON films with various nitrogen concentrations, prepared by post-nitridation of HfSiOx. In this study of 2.5 nm thick HfSiON films, we have measured SIMS depth profiles of oxygen and nitrogen under 500 eV Csþ bombardment at approximately 708 from the surface normal, similar to those obtained by HR-RBS. Under the same measurement conditions, good correlation between the estimated nitrogen concentration from XPS and the CsNþ secondary ion intensity by SIMS has been observed for nitrogen concentrations less than 15%. # 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.