Reaction of DI water and silicon and its effect on gate oxide integrity

Author

Rajagopalan, S. ; Mitra, U. ; Pan, S. ; Gupta, K. ; Lin, C.M. ; Sery, G. ; Mitta, S. ; Hasserjian, K. ; Lo, W.J. ; Neubauer, G.

Author_Institution

Intel Corp., Santa Clara, CA, USA

fYear

1993

Firstpage

28

Lastpage

31

Abstract

The reaction between HF treated silicon surfaces and deionized water is investigated, and a model to explain this reaction is developed. This reaction between silicon and water results in surface microroughness of the silicon surface and can lead to degradation of gate oxide quality. Water pH and rinse time are key parameters which control the corrosive reaction. This work also showed that water cannot always be considered a safe environment for silicon.<>

Keywords

corrosion; elemental semiconductors; reliability; semiconductor process modelling; silicon; surface chemistry; surface topography; surface treatment; HF treated; Si; Si-OH bonds; Si-SiO/sub 2/; charge to breakdown; corrosive reaction; deionized water; elemental semiconductors; gate oxide integrity; model; pre-gate clean; rinse time; soluble silicates; surface microroughness; water pH; Degradation; Design for quality; Hafnium; Lead compounds; Rough surfaces; Silicon; Surface cleaning; Surface morphology; Surface roughness; Surface treatment;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Reliability Physics Symposium, 1993. 31st Annual Proceedings., International

Conference_Location

Atlanta, GA, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0782-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/RELPHY.1993.283307

Filename

283307