Title :
Highly reliable polysilicon oxide grown by electron cyclotron resonance nitrous oxide plasma
Author :
Lee, Nae-In ; Lee, Jin-Woo ; Hur, Sung-Hoi ; Kim, Hyoung-Sub ; Han, Chul-Hi
Author_Institution :
Semicond. R&D Center, Samsung Electron. Co. Ltd., Kyungki-do, South Korea
Abstract :
Highly reliable inter-polysilicon oxide (polyoxide) for nonvolatile memory applications has been achieved using electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) N/sub 2/O-plasma. It is demonstrated that the N/sub 2/O-plasma polyoxide grown on doped poly-Si has a low leakage current and high breakdown field due to a smooth polyoxide/poly-Si interface and nitrogen incorporation during oxidation. Moreover, the polyoxide has much less electron trapping and over one order larger charge-to-breakdown (Q/sub bd/) up to 10 C/cm/sup 2/ than thermal polyoxide. The N/sub 2/O-plasma polyoxide can be a good choice for the interpoly dielectric of nonvolatile memories.
Keywords :
current density; dielectric thin films; electric breakdown; electron traps; leakage currents; oxidation; plasma applications; silicon compounds; AFM images; ECR N/sub 2/O plasma; N incorporation; N/sub 2/O; Si; SiO/sub 2/-Si; Weibull plots; charge-to-breakdown; doped polysilicon substrate; electron cyclotron resonance plasma; electron trapping; high breakdown field; high reliability; interpoly dielectric; low leakage current; nonvolatile memory applications; polysilicon oxide growth; smooth polyoxide/poly-Si interface; Cyclotrons; Electric breakdown; Electrodes; Electrons; Leakage current; Nonvolatile memory; Oxidation; Plasmas; Resonance; Silicon;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE
