Title :
Effect of H2 content on reliability of ultrathin in-situ steam generated (ISSG) SiO2
Author :
Luo, T.Y. ; Laughery, M. ; Brown, G.A. ; Al-Shareef, H.N. ; Watt, V.H.C. ; Karamcheti, A. ; Jackson, M.D. ; Huff, H.R.
Author_Institution :
Int. Sematech. Inc., Austin, TX, USA
Abstract :
This letter demonstrates the effect of H/sub 2/ percentage during oxidation on the quality of the in-situ steam generated (ISSG) oxide. Our results indicate the reliability of ISSG oxide is considerably improved as the H/sub 2/ percentage increases, from the viewpoint of stress-induced leakage current (SILC) and charge-to-breakdown (Q/sub BD/). Such enhanced reliability of the ISSG oxide may be explained by the reduction of defects in the SiO/sub 2/ network within the structural transition layer, such as Si dangling bonds, weak Si-Si and strained Si-O bonds, by highly reactive oxygen atoms which are hypothesized to be dissociated from the molecular oxygen due to the presence of hydrogen.
Keywords :
Dangling bonds; Dielectric thin films; Electric breakdown; Hydrogenation; Leakage currents; MOS capacitors; Oxidation; Semiconductor device reliability; Silicon compounds; H/sub 2/; H/sub 2/ content; H/sub 2/ percentage; ISSG oxide; MOS capacitor; O/sub 2/-H/sub 2/; Si dangling bonds; SiO/sub 2/; SiO/sub 2/ network defect reduction; charge-to-breakdown; molecular oxygen dissociation; oxidation; reliability; strained Si-O bonds; stress-induced leakage current; structural transition layer; ultrathin in-situ steam generated SiO/sub 2/; weak Si-Si bonds; Atomic layer deposition; Dielectric devices; Electric breakdown; Electron traps; Hydrogen; Leakage current; Oxidation; Power supplies; Thickness control; Tunneling;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE
