Title :
Thin tunnel oxide grown on silicon substrate pretreated by CF4 plasma
Author :
Lee, Jam Wem ; Lei, Tan Fu ; Lee, Chung-Len
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electron. Eng., Nat. Chiao Tung Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan
Abstract :
High tunneling current and large resistance against stress were the main issue of tunnel oxide for scaling down the operation voltage of EEPROMs. In this letter, thin-tunnel oxides grown on a CF/sub 4/ pretreated silicon substrate were prepared and investigated for the first time. The fabricated oxide has about three orders of tunneling current higher than that of control one; furthermore, the stress induced anomalous and low electric field leakage currents were greatly suppressed. The improvement could be contributed to F-incorporation in oxide. This type of oxide is suitable for fabricating low-voltage EEPROMs and less process complexity was added.
Keywords :
EPROM; elemental semiconductors; leakage currents; low-power electronics; oxidation; plasma materials processing; silicon; surface treatment; tunnelling; CF/sub 4/ plasma pretreatment; Si; anomalous leakage current; fabrication process; fluorination; low-voltage EEPROM; silicon substrate; stress induced leakage current; tunnel oxide growth; tunneling current; EPROM; Leakage current; Plasma applications; Plasma chemistry; Plasma measurements; Plasma temperature; Silicon compounds; Stress; Substrates; Tunneling;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE
