DocumentCode :
906658
Title :
Monitoring plasma-process induced damage in thin oxide
Author :
Shin, Hyungcheol ; Hu, Chenming
Author_Institution :
California Univ., Berkeley, CA, USA
Volume :
6
Issue :
2
fYear :
1993
fDate :
5/1/1993 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage :
96
Lastpage :
102
Abstract :
Plasma etching and resist ashing processes cause current to flow through the thin oxide and the resultant plasma-induced damage can be simulated and modeled as damage produced by constant current electrical stress. The oxide charging current produced by plasma processing increases with the `antenna´ size of the device structure. Oxide charge measurement such as CV or threshold voltage is a more sensitive technique for characterizing plasma-processing induced damage than oxide breakdown. The oxide charging current is collected only through the aluminum surfaces not covered by the photoresist during plasma processes. Although forming gas anneal can passivate the traps generated during plasma etching, subsequent Fowler-Nordheim stressing causes more traps to be generated in these devices than in devices that have not been through plasma etching. Using the measured charging current, the breakdown voltage distribution of oxides after plasma processes can be predicted accurately. Oxide shorts density of a single large test capacitor is found to be higher than that in a multiple of separated small capacitors having the same total oxide area. This would lead to overly pessimistic oxide defect data unless care is taken
Keywords :
dielectric thin films; electric breakdown of solids; electron traps; elemental semiconductors; semiconductor-insulator boundaries; silicon; silicon compounds; sputter etching; Al-SiO2-Si; CV curve; Fowler-Nordheim stressing; MOS capacitor structure; breakdown voltage distribution; charge measurement; constant current electrical stress; forming gas anneal; oxide charging current; oxide defect data; plasma-process induced damage; resist ashing; thin oxide; threshold voltage; Capacitors; Etching; Monitoring; Plasma applications; Plasma density; Plasma devices; Plasma materials processing; Plasma measurements; Plasma simulation; Resists;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Semiconductor Manufacturing, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0894-6507
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/66.216927
Filename :
216927
Link To Document :
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