Title :
Effects of residual surface nitrogen on the dielectric breakdown characteristics of regrown oxides
Author :
Kim, J. ; Joshi, A.B. ; Yoon, G.W. ; Kwong, D.L.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Texas Univ., Austin, TX, USA
Abstract :
Effects of residual surface nitrogen, remaining after stripping off oxynitrides (N2O-grown or NH3-nitrided oxides), on the quality of the regrown gate oxides are studied. Residual surface nitrogen is observed to reduce the breakdown field and degrade the TDDB characteristics of the subsequently grown gate oxides. Results show that oxide regrowth in N2O, rather than O2, can significantly suppress these undesirable effects which are ascribed to large interface roughness. A physical model, describing the roles of residual surface nitrogen and regrowth ambient, is presented to account for the differences in interface roughness among various dielectrics.
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; VLSI; electric breakdown of solids; insulated gate field effect transistors; metal-insulator-semiconductor devices; nitridation; semiconductor process modelling; CMOS; MOS devices; N2O ambient; Si; SiOxNy; TDDB characteristics; VLSI; breakdown field; capacitors; dielectric breakdown characteristics; large interface roughness; model; regrown oxides; residual surface N effect; stripping off oxynitrides; Circuits; Dielectric breakdown; EPROM; Electric breakdown; Nitrogen; Nonvolatile memory; Oxidation; Rough surfaces; Surface roughness; Tunneling;
Conference_Titel :
VLSI Technology, Systems, and Applications, 1993. Proceedings of Technical Papers. 1993 International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Taipei, Taiwan
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-0978-2
DOI :
10.1109/VTSA.1993.263636
