Electrical characterization of the Si substrate in magnetically enhanced or conventional reactive-ion-etch-exposed SiO/sub 2//p-Si structures

The authors explore the silicon substrate damage produced by Cl/sub 2/- and HBr-based reactive ion polycrystalline silicon overetches used in the definition of polycrystalline-Si/SiO/sub 2//single-crystal-Si structures. The damage-caused traps, examined by means of deep-level transient spectroscopy, in the p-type Si are found to have concentrations that can exceed one tenth that of the boron dopant, and are detectable as far as approximately 10 mu m from the SiO/sub 2//Si interface. The concentration and depth of these traps are shown to depend on the polycrystalline Si overetch selectivity, on the initial oxide thickness, and on the magnetic field strength, as well as on the presence of hydrogen.<>