Title :
Effects of residual surface nitrogen on the dielectric breakdown characteristics of regrown oxides
Author :
Kim, J. ; Joshi, A.B. ; Yoon, G.W. ; Kwong, Dim-Lee
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Texas Univ., Austin, TX, USA
fDate :
5/1/1993 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Effects of residual surface nitrogen, remaining on the Si surface after stripping off tunneling oxynitrides (N/sub 2/O-grown or NH/sub 3/-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 time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) characteristics of the subsequently grown gate oxides. Results show that oxide regrowth in N/sub 2/O, rather than O/sub 2/, can significantly suppress these undesirable effects.<>
Keywords :
dielectric thin films; electric breakdown of solids; metal-insulator-semiconductor devices; nitridation; oxidation; silicon compounds; MOS capacitors; N/sub 2/O; Si surface; Si-SiO/sub 2/; Si-SiO/sub x/N/sub y/; TDDB; breakdown field; dielectric breakdown characteristics; regrown gate oxides; residual surface N; tunneling oxynitrides; Circuits; Degradation; Dielectric breakdown; EPROM; Electric breakdown; Neural networks; Nitrogen; Nonvolatile memory; Strips; Tunneling;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE
