Title :
SIMOX SOI surface smoothing for gate oxide integrity and reliability
Author :
Allen, L.P. ; Fenner, D.B. ; Skinner, W.J. ; Chandonnet, R. ; Deziel, S.E. ; Torti, R.P. ; Toyoda, N.
Author_Institution :
Epion Corp., Billerica, MA, USA
Abstract :
A significant reliability aspect regarding commercial application of SOI is the consistency of the device gate oxide integrity (GOI). This research focuses on the smoothing of SIMOX SOI surfaces for advanced CMOS applications with improved GOI and reliability. As shown in an atomic force microscope (AFM) image, as-received samples of full dose single-implant SIMOX annealed in an Ar ambient show a distinct [100] tiling with a measured peak-to-valley surface roughness ranging from /spl sim/55 /spl Aring/ to /spl sim/70 /spl Aring/. These [100] faceted surface features result from silicon surface bond reconstruction during the 1310/spl deg/C SIMOX anneal temperature into their lowest free energy configuration. For the specific samples examined, the facets were typically 0.5 /spl mu/m in diameter with a mean deviation R(a) of 7.1 /spl Aring/ and R(rms) at 8.9 /spl Aring/. In order to reduce the faceting features as well as the surface roughness, a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) method of surface smoothing was applied to the full dose single implant SIMOX samples.
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; SIMOX; annealing; atomic force microscopy; dielectric thin films; integrated circuit reliability; ion beam applications; ion implantation; surface topography; surface treatment; 0.5 micron; 1310 C; 55 to 70 angstrom; AFM image; Ar anneal ambient; CMOS applications; SIMOX SOI surface smoothing; SIMOX anneal temperature; SOI; Si-SiO/sub 2/; Si[100] tiling; anneal; device gate oxide integrity; facet diameter; faceted surface features; faceting features; free energy configuration; full dose single implant SIMOX samples; full dose single-implant SIMOX; gas cluster ion beam method; gate oxide integrity; gate oxide reliability; peak-to-valley surface roughness; reliability; silicon surface bond reconstruction; surface roughness; surface smoothing; Annealing; Argon; Atomic force microscopy; Atomic measurements; Force measurement; Rough surfaces; Silicon; Smoothing methods; Surface reconstruction; Surface roughness;
Conference_Titel :
SOI Conference, 1999. Proceedings. 1999 IEEE International
Conference_Location :
Rohnert Park, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5456-7
DOI :
10.1109/SOI.1999.819880
